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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.

Wole Soyinka

Governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not even know it’s in there.
WOLE SOYINKA

Dig Even Governance Huge Itself Know There
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
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Arm Conviction Danger Day Every Know Other Power Threat Wake Way Yield
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Artistic Creative Direction Individual Temperament Well
But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Lesson Sit Sown Ultimate Write
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 SOYINKA

Existential Exploration Human Impulse Natural Same Science Stem Symbiosis
When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost and it makes the work harder for the rest of us.
WOLE SOYINKA

Culture Encourage Harder Impurity Lost Make Rest Society Us World
You cannot live a normal existence if you haven’t taken care of a problem that affects your life and affects the lives of others, values that you hold which in fact define your very existence.
WOLE SOYINKA

Care Effect Existence Life Live Normal Other Problem Taken
I don’t really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accident Came Consider Myself Novelist Purely Really
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
We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where.
WOLE SOYINKA

Appeal Humanity Live Materialist Matter Strongly
Intolerance has always been with us, you know. The moment you have ideology, we have intolerance, whether it’s the secular ideology or, you know ideocratic ideology, which always brings with it some kind of intolerance.
WOLE SOYINKA

Always Been Ideology Intolerance Moment Secular Wether
The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.
WOLE SOYINKA

Absence Criticism Freedom Greatest Threat
Romance is the sweetening of the soul With fragrance offered by the stricken heart.
WOLE SOYINKA

Fragrance Heart Offer Romance Soul Sticken Sweetening
For me, a writer is already being the deuce of his mission, his occupation to society.
WOLE SOYINKA

Already Being Deuce Mission Occupation Society Writer
No 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.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Behold Collect Denies Endless Link Man Mother Navel No Us Womb World
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Began Early Festival Poem Poetry Selling Short Story Very Writing
History teaches us to beware of the excitation of the liberated and the injustices that often accompany their righteous thirst for justice.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accompany Beware Christ Excitation History Injustice Justice Liberate Other Righteous Tech
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Actually Comparative Criticism Function Literacy Literature Possible Something Strike Talk Teach Time Writer
You accept whoever you are interacting with, directly, or indirectly.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accept Direct Indirectly Interact Whoever
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 SOYINKA

Home Idea Life Man Mussel One Only River Shell Soul Tortoise
The man dies in all those that keep silent.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Die Keep Man Silent Those
I have no money to give to you but I have ideas and organizational capacity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Capacity Give Idea Money Organizational You
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
When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indirect.
WOLE SOYINKA

Corruption Direct Entire Form Look Other Society Some
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 SOYINKA

Come Contrary Despite Even Fallacy Industrialized Pious Recognition See Statement Term World
For me, justice is the prime condition of humanity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Condition For Humanity Justice Prime

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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When I say war, I’m not talking about mental war; I’m talking about totally eliminating the obstacles to transformation of our children.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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