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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.

Wole Soyinka

Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.
WOLE SOYINKA

Beyond Exactly Live Some Poet Sometimes World
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
But when you’re deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship. But you have to survive and so you devise all kinds of mental exercises and it’s amazing.
WOLE SOYINKA

All Companionship Deprive Devise Human Kind Length Period Survive
I rarely use mythology for its own sake because, as a theatre person, the mythological figures are in fact humanity to the ninth degree and Yoruba mythology in particular has fascination of being one of the most humanised mythologies in the world.
WOLE SOYINKA

Because Degree Fact Figure Humanity Mythological Mythology Ninth Own Person Rarely Sake Theatre
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
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
There is something really horrific for any human being who feels he is being consumed by other people.
WOLE SOYINKA

Consume Feel Horrific Human Being Other People Really Sometimes
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
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 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
I don’t really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.
WOLE SOYINKA

Accident Came Consider Myself Novelist Purely Really
For me, justice is the prime condition of humanity.
WOLE SOYINKA

Condition For Humanity Justice Prime
. . . 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.
WOLE SOYINKA

Concern Far Feel Play Regime Sheer Terror Well
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
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
Mythology can be used, and has been used, even to re-state, you know, the very urgent problems of the world.
WOLE SOYINKA

Been Mythological Problem State Urgent Use Very World

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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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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