Wole Soyinka quotes

The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism. (Wole Soyinka)
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? View quote
Wole Soyinka
The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. View quote
Wole Soyinka
The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail. View quote
Wole Soyinka
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. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress the truth. View quote
Wole Soyinka
A tiger doesn't proclaim his tigritude, he pounces. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion. View quote
Wole Soyinka
We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Even when I'm writing plays I enjoy having company and mentally I think of that company as the company I'm writing for. (Wole Soyinka)
My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being. View quote
Wole Soyinka
I found, when I left, that there were others who felt the same way. We'd meet, they'd come and seek me out, we'd talk about the future. And I found that their depression and pessimism was every bit as acute as mine. View quote
Wole Soyinka
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. View quote
Wole Soyinka
One thing I can tell you is this, that I am not a methodical writer. View quote
Wole Soyinka
There's something about the theater which makes my fingertips tingle. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie. View quote
Wole Soyinka
I grew up in an atmosphere where words were an integral part of culture. View quote
Wole Soyinka
And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others. View quote
Wole Soyinka
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. View quote
Wole Soyinka
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)
But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Very conscious of the fact that an effort was being made to destroy my mind, because I was deprived of books, deprived of any means of writing, deprived of human companionship. You never know how much you need it until you're deprived of it. View quote
Wole Soyinka
I don't really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident. View quote
Wole Soyinka
Looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done. View quote
Wole Soyinka