Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie.
WOLE SOYINKANo man beholds his mother’s womb Yet who denies it’s there? Coiled To the navel of the world is that Endless cord that links us all To the great Origin. If I lose my way. The trailing cord will bring me to the roots.
More Wole Soyinka Quotes
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I began writing early – very, very early… I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art festivals; I was involved in school plays; I wrote essays, so there was no definite moment when I said, ‘Now I’m a writer.’ I’ve always been a writer.
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But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
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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.
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And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.
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I am a very curious person; I’ll always ask: is this thing true, is it not true? And I use my own means to investigate and come to my conclusion.
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It’s the place to begin, always — to return to home, literally.
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What I teach is literary criticism and comparative literature and so on and that’s my function, but from time to time it’s possible for me actually to help a writer. I read something and something strikes me then, I feel I can talk to that writer about it.
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Well, the first thing is that truth and power for me form an antithesis, an antagonism, which will hardly ever be resolved. I can define in fact, can simplify the history of human society, the evolution of human society, as a contest between power and freedom.
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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.
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I cannot accept the definition of collective good as articulated by a privileged minority in society, especially when that minority is in power.
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Be yourself. Ultimately just be yourself.
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I’m not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I’ve never understood.
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Romance is the sweetening of the soul With fragrance offered by the stricken heart.
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I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you’re actually sitting down putting words to the paper.
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Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
WOLE SOYINKA