I 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 SOYINKAWell, 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.
More Wole Soyinka Quotes
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Let’s say there are prospects for a new Nigeria, but I don’t think we have a new Nigeria yet.
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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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Sadness is twilight’s kiss on earth.
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Governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not even know it’s in there.
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The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.
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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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When I say war, I’m not talking about mental war; I’m talking about totally eliminating the obstacles to transformation of our children.
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I believe that each writer must decide in which language he or she is most comfortable.
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Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
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But theater, because of its nature, both text, images, multimedia effects, has a wider base of communication with an audience. That’s why I call it the most social of the various art forms.
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The writer is the visionary of his people… He anticipates, he warns.
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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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There’s a lot of insincerity about the actions of our legislators; they create distractions – like this anti-gay law you alluded to – and try to mobilise, to exacerbate people’s emotions. Until the legislators started making laws, people minded, generally, their own business.
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Well, some people say I’m pessimistic because I recognize the eternal cycle of evil. All I say is, look at the history of mankind right up to this moment and what do you find?
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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.
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Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.
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Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.
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I don’t know any other way to live but to wake up everyday armed with my convictions, not yielding them to the threat of danger and to the power and force of people who might despise me.
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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.
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The media must be used effectively to reach the masses. You have to find a new language in which to address the people and demonstrate what is possible.
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There is something really horrific for any human being who feels he is being consumed by other people.
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But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
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We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where.
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We 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.
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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.
WOLE SOYINKA -
I can look violence in the face and either reject or accept it.
WOLE SOYINKA