If man cannot, what god dare claim perfection?
WOLE SOYINKAIf man cannot, what god dare claim perfection?
WOLE SOYINKAI can look violence in the face and either reject or accept it.
WOLE SOYINKAThere is only one home to the life of a river-mussel; there is only one home to the life of a tortoise; there is only one shell to the soul of man: there is only one world to the spirit of our race. If that world leaves its course and smashes on boulders of the great void, whose world will give us shelter?
WOLE SOYINKAColonialism bred an innate arrogance, but when you undertake that sort of imperial adventure, that arrogance gives way to a feeling of accommodativeness. You take pride in your openness.
WOLE SOYINKAI rarely use mythology for its own sake because, as a theatre person, the mythological figures are in fact humanity to the ninth degree and Yoruba mythology in particular has fascination of being one of the most humanised mythologies in the world.
WOLE SOYINKASome of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.
WOLE SOYINKAWhen I say war, I’m not talking about mental war; I’m talking about totally eliminating the obstacles to transformation of our children.
WOLE SOYINKASee, even despite pious statements to the contrary, much of the industrialized world has not yet come to terms with the recognition of the fallacy of what I call the strong man syndrome.
WOLE SOYINKAThe man dies in all those that keep silent.
WOLE SOYINKAI believe that each writer must decide in which language he or she is most comfortable.
WOLE SOYINKAI never hesitated, as a student, in embracing the necessity of violence. In South Africa, I didn’t just accept it; I looked forward to it as a mission.
WOLE SOYINKAAnd I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.
WOLE SOYINKAWe all have our individual artistic temperaments as well as partisanships in creative directions. And we have strong opinions on the merits of the products of our occupation.
WOLE SOYINKAAnd gradually they’re beginning to recognize the fact that there’s nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it’s sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms.
WOLE SOYINKARomance is the sweetening of the soul With fragrance offered by the stricken heart.
WOLE SOYINKAThe media owes the responsibility to constantly tell the public the truth.
WOLE SOYINKA