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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

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
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
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
I don’t really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accident Came Consider Myself Novelist Purely Really
As a global citizen, I sometimes feel like denying my identity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Citizen Deny Feel Global Identity Sometimes
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
Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.
WOLE SOYINKA

Beyond Exactly Live Some Poet Sometimes World
My definition of slavery is the deprivation of human volition, any form of relationship between two peoples which is based on the deprivation of volition of one side.
WOLE SOYINKA

Base Between Definition Deprivation Human People Relationship Slavery Volition
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
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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Action Anti Attitude Create Distraction Gay Insincerity Legislator Like Lot Mobilise Try
Romance is the sweetening of the soul With fragrance offered by the stricken heart.
WOLE SOYINKA

Fragrance Heart Offer Romance Soul Sticken Sweetening
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
I cannot accept the definition of collective good as articulated by a privileged minority in society, especially when that minority is in power.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accept Articulated Collective Definition Good Minority Power Privilege Society Specially
The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail.
WOLE SOYINKA

Biggest Bottom Dip Eat Hard Pot Small
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
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?
WOLE SOYINKA

Cycle Eternal Evil People Pessimistic Recognizing Say Some

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