The man dies in all those that keep silent.
WOLE SOYINKA
WOLE SOYINKA
More from Wole Soyinka
Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka I know there are writers who get up every morning and sit by their typewriter or word processor or pad of paper and wait to write. I don’t function that way. I go through a long period of gestation before I’m even ready to write.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka It’s the place to begin, always — to return to home, literally.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka I said: “A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude, he pounces”. In other words: a tiger does not stand in the forest and say: “I am a tiger”. When you pass where the tiger has walked before, you see the skeleton of the duiker, you know that some tigritude has been emanated there.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka Colonialism 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 SoyinkaWole Soyinka But when you’re deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship. But you have to survive and so you devise all kinds of mental exercises and it’s amazing.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka My definition of slavery is the deprivation of human volition, any form of relationship between two peoples which is based on the deprivation of volition of one side.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka The media owes the responsibility to constantly tell the public the truth.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka There 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 SoyinkaWole Soyinka I cannot accept the definition of collective good as articulated by a privileged minority in society, especially when that minority is in power.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka Arts and the Sciences are a natural symbiosis. They stem from the same human existential impulse – exploration. Exploration of what lies beneath the surface, and re-confuguration of elements of what we call reality.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka It is the human potentials that interest me. I travel and everywhere I go I am amazed at the presence of Nigerians. The intelligence, integrity, productivity, initiative.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka I don’t really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka . . . as far as the regime is concerned, well, the play is sheer terror for them. Because they feel, How dare – how dare anybody lift his or her voice in criticism against us? We have the guns. Their level of paranoia and power-drunkenness is unbelievable.
Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka See, 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 SoyinkaWole Soyinka
Original quotes
From our community writers
Even with broken wings, she dares to fly. And even with a broken heart, she dares to love.
Divya khandalDivya khandal And I refuse to apologize until the very end for the way that I feel – my feelings are valid too.
Carmen AmadosCarmen Amados Contemplate your own mortality daily, then see how much we must change.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin Poetry is the voice of the soul and the inspiration of the heart.
Teresa PeresTeresa Peres We parted sadly, like children in the street on a pleasant june afternoon.
Iestyn TudorIestyn Tudor And what shall I call you? Yours. In this life, the ones before, and all others thereafter.
Alexandra MichelleAlexandra Michelle If I could go back to a time I’d be with you. And I’d thank you again for almost being the healing to my heart.
Aimee C. HoveyAimee C. Hovey I was a living breathing nightmare and he was my favorite dream catcher.
Juwairiyyah OlgarJuwairiyyah Olgar
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Adam GopnikAdam Gopnik I liked radio, or podcasting. I like talking minus the camera and the script part. All those mediums are different, and they are all different with their pluses and minuses.
Adam CarollaAdam Carolla We’re gonna keep on doin’ what we’re doin’, and we’re gonna get it by all means. That’s just what “ruthless” means to me. Everybody’s got their own definition, but I’m ruthless with this music.
Ace HoodAce Hood That’s what rock and roll is for, turn that switch on, and man, it can all be.
Janis JoplinJanis Joplin Don’t compromise your self, you’re all you got.
Janis JoplinJanis Joplin All games contain the idea of death.
Jim MorrisonJim Morrison