But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
WOLE SOYINKAThere 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?
More Wole Soyinka Quotes
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The man dies in all those that keep silent.
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It’s the place to begin, always — to return to home, literally.
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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.
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Governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not even know it’s in there.
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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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Writers are human. I shudder to think how I must sometimes appear to others.
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. . . as far as the regime is concerned, well, the play is sheer terror for them. Because they feel, How dare – how dare anybody lift his or her voice in criticism against us? We have the guns. Their level of paranoia and power-drunkenness is unbelievable.
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A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude, he pounces.
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We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where.
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Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
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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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When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost and it makes the work harder for the rest of us.
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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.
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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.
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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