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My understanding of the creative process is simply that all cultures and all concerns meet at a certain point, the human point in which everything is related to one another. That has been my creative experience.

Wole Soyinka

We do not ask the mountain’s aid to crack a walnut.
WOLE SOYINKA

Ask Crack Mountain Not Walnut
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 SOYINKA

Other Prince Proclaim Say Stand Tiger Tignitude Word
When I say war, I’m not talking about mental war; I’m talking about totally eliminating the obstacles to transformation of our children.
WOLE SOYINKA

Children Eliminate Mental Obstacle Our Say Talk Totally Transformation War
I can look violence in the face and either reject or accept it.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accept Can Either Face Reject Took Violence
Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Book Form Suppress Terror Truth Wish Write
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 SOYINKA

Adventure Arrogance Colonialism Feeling Imperial Innate Sort Understand Way
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 SOYINKA

Amaze Country Everywhere Human Interest People Person Potential Presence Travel
Culture is a matrix of infinite possibilities and choices. From within the same culture matrix we can extract arguments and strategies for the degradation and ennoblement of our species, for its enslavement or liberation, for the suppression of its productive potential or its enhancement.
WOLE SOYINKA

Choice Culture Matrix Poosisblity
But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Lesson Sit Sown Ultimate Write
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 SOYINKA

Absolute Believe Cause Certainty Confidence Feel Must One Self Think Through
I have no money to give to you but I have ideas and organizational capacity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Capacity Give Idea Money Organizational You
Alfred Nobel regretted that his invention, dynamite, was converted to degrading use, hence his creation of the Nobel Prize, as the humanist counter to the destructive power of his genius.
WOLE SOYINKA

Convert Creation Degrading Dynamite Hence Humanist Invention Nobel Prize Regretted
A human feast is an indifferent morsel to a god.
WOLE SOYINKA

Gfeast God Human Indifference Morsel
The writer is the visionary of his people… He anticipates, he warns.
WOLE SOYINKA

Anticipate People Visionary Warm Water
For me, justice is the prime condition of humanity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Condition For Humanity Justice Prime
Each time I think Ive created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.
WOLE SOYINKA

Create Disrupt Each Myself Private Some Space Think Throwback Time
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Learn Machine Morning Paper Piece Put Start Typewriter Writer Writing
Be yourself. Ultimately just be yourself.
WOLE SOYINKA

Be Just Ultimate Yourself
Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
WOLE SOYINKA

Continue Illusion Reality Reject Safety Seriously Shadow
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Always Ask Curious Person Thing True Very
My father used to tell me stories before I fell asleep. When the children would gather, at a certain point, I had a tendency to make up my own elementary variations on stories I had heard, or to invent totally new ones.
WOLE SOYINKA

Asleep Certain Children Father Fell Gather Point Story Use
The youth should come together to challenge the status quo. They must not give up.
WOLE SOYINKA

Challenge Come Give Must Status Together Youth
You have the entire gamut of human experience captured in the mythology of the Yoruba. This is what makes the Yoruba mythology a natural source material for me in my creative endeavours.
WOLE SOYINKA

Capture Entire Experience Gamut Human Make Mythology Natural Yoruba
The man dies in all those that keep silent.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Die Keep Man Silent Those
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

Antagonism Anthisesis Even First Form Hardly Power Resolve Thing Truth Well
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Audience Base Both Communication Effect Image Multimedia Nature Theatre Wider
I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you’re actually sitting down putting words to the paper.
WOLE SOYINKA

Actually Consider Gestation Important Process Put Sitmsown Word

My understanding of the creative process is simply that all cultures and all concerns meet at a certain point, the human point in which everything is related to one another. That has been my creative experience.

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My understanding of the creative process is simply that all cultures and all concerns meet at a certain point, the human point in which everything is related to one another. That has been my creative experience.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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