Quotes by Gao Xingjian

About Gao Xingjian:

Gao Xingjian is a Chinese émigré novelist, playwright, and critic who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity.” He is also a noted translator (particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco), screenwriter, stage director, and a celebrated painter. In 1998, Gao was granted French citizenship.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Experience has taught me that any kind of political grouping is oppressive. It's the blind mass that crushes the individual.

Gao Xingjian

In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?

Gao Xingjian

If you want to do anything, do it now, without compromise or concession, because you have only one life.

Gao Xingjian

It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.

Gao Xingjian

Love is so holy, so confusing. It makes a man anxious, tormented. Love, how can I define it?

Gao Xingjian

When you use words, you're able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Gao Xingjian

Observing humans and observing oneself yields a clear-minded starting point for literature.

Gao Xingjian

Reality is myself, reality is only the perception of this instant and it can't be related to another person.

Gao Xingjian

With the beginning of life, comes the thirst for truth, whereas the ability to lie is gradually acquired in the process of trying to stay alive.

Gao Xingjian

I don't want to be a strong hero who can save society. I just want to save myself.

Gao Xingjian

As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on women's worlds.

Gao Xingjian

Author Bio

  • NameGao Xingjian
  • DescriptionChinese novelist and playwright
  • BornJanuary 4, 1940
  • CountryPeople's Republic Of China; France
  • ProfessionWriter; Painter; Translator; Novelist; Playwright
  • AwardsNobel Prize In Literature