More from Ben Okri
What you see is what you make. What you see in a people is what you eventually create in them.
Ben OkriBen Okri Maybe there are only three kinds of stories: those we live, those we tell, and those that help our souls fly upwards to a greater life.
Ben OkriBen Okri We can still astonish the gods in humanity And be the stuff of future legends, If we but dare to be real, And have the courage to see That this is the time to dream The best dream of them all.
Ben OkriBen Okri Reading, like writing, is a creative act. If readers only bring a narrow range of themselves to the book, then they’ll only see their narrow range reflected in it.
Ben OkriBen Okri Literature doesn’t have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness of spirit. The characters of Turgenev are ghetto dwellers. Dickens characters are Nigerians.
Ben OkriBen Okri People that don’t exist, places you’ve never visited, enigmatic fates, all come to life in the mind, painted into existence by the reader’s creative powers. In this way the creativity of the writer calls up the creativity of the reader. Reading is never passive.
Ben OkriBen Okri Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.
Ben OkriBen Okri To anyone who is homeless, I say, find a home.
Ben OkriBen Okri I am not fighting for success, just to get more beauty out of myself and share it with more people.
Ben OkriBen Okri The law is simple. Every experience is repeated or suffered till you experience it properly and fully the first time.
Ben OkriBen Okri The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it’s about us, it’s about the reader.
Ben OkriBen Okri There is a kind of expressed love which is easy to subvert. When a figure is loved for their deeds, their conquests, their heroism, their goodness, their love of the people, these are easy enough to destroy… But there is a kind of love which is felt for apparently no reason…
Ben OkriBen Okri a dream can be the highest point of a life
Ben OkriBen Okri I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends’ floors, was happy, was miserable.
Ben OkriBen Okri Success will never confuse you of scatter your spirit, but will make you fly higher into the good sunlight. Your life will always surprise you.
Ben OkriBen Okri The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as creative participants in the universe, to re dream our world. The fact of possessing imagination means that everything can be re dreamed. Each reality can have it
Ben OkriBen Okri
Original quotes
From our community writers
And that is how time heals, not by erasing but by blurring all the memories.
VesmirVesmir Let me follow my dream. Let me follow my queen.
Moses AlexanderMoses Alexander Be kind to yourself, the way you would be to someone you love.
Courtney PeppernellCourtney Peppernell We need to surrender ourselves to the water before we can climb the spiral ladder.
Nikol MejdnNikol Mejdn You gave me the courage to rise but my darling robin why did you fly leaving me behind these four walls all alone?
Ophelia ScarlettOphelia Scarlett Giving up your dreams is easy, but ask yourself is it really easy to live without dreams?
Sania AbbasSania Abbas It’s funny how we say a person ‘made’ us when they actually broke us. Sort of like how I say ‘funny’ – but I actually mean sad.
Ranata SuzukiRanata Suzuki You can’t keep living backwards – Reminiscing on what was, And terrified to pursue What could be.
J.S BrownJ.S Brown
Meet the writers
More on darker
Patch’s eyes were slate black, darker than a million secrets stacked on top of each other. He dropped his gaze to the ring in his hand, turning it over slowly. “swear you’ll never stop loving me,” i whispered. Ever so slightly, he nodded.
Becca FitzpatrickBecca Fitzpatrick The nearer the dawn the darker the night.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow It’s basically the same, just darker.
Alan KulwickiAlan Kulwicki The darker the subject, the more light you must try to shed on the matter. And vice versa.
Alan AyckbournAlan Ayckbourn How do the stems connect to the roots?’ ‘Where is the mist coming from?’ ‘Why does one tree seem darker than another?’ These questions are implicitly asked and answered in the process of sketching.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton I’ve always thought darker characters were more fun to play.
Aidan GillenAidan Gillen We punch mirrors and we explore our darker selves. No, it’s just an amalgam of all newscasters that we grew up with. Sort of like before there was cable, when these people were like gods.
Adam McKayAdam McKay
