Wole Soyinka is a Nobel Prize for Literature winner. He is a playwright, essayist, poet and culture advocate. His impact on the fight for democracy in Africa cannot be overemphasized.
He has been the conscience of the country, as he doesn’t refrain from criticizing any government that fails to its people. He remains an advocate of good governance.
He has been a source of inspiration to the young writer who wants to make their mark in the literary world.
Here are some quotes from him that will get your Friday fired up.
“Just like birds, hunters know no borders.”
“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.”
“And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.”
“Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.”
“The writer is the visionary of his people… He anticipates, he warns”
“Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie.”
“The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.”
“A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts. Each time I think I’ve created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space. We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where.”
“When I was a child, for a public/civil servant to be caught in corrupt practices, that individual will be a pariah. He will be a complete reject of the society; he/she could not raise his or her voice to speak in the public. So what happened between that time and now? That time when a public officer, prison or customs officer caught in corruption hides his face in shame amongst his peers, he just couldn’t come out publicly. Today, when they come back, they get chieftaincy titles, they are received in grand style, cows are killed, they ride on white horses.”
“Intolerance has become, I think, the reigning ideology of the world today, the intolerance versus intolerance and it’s taken on lethal proportions.”
“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.”
“I am convinced that Nigeria would have been a more highly developed country without the oil. I wished we’d never smelled the fumes of petroleum.”
“The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail.”
“It is the human potentials that interest me. I travel and everywhere I go I am amazed at the presence of Nigerians. The intelligence, integrity, productivity, initiative.”
Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has, historically. Go all the way back to the Inquisition, you know, the Crusades, the Jehad and so on.
“I love beauty. But I like the beauty accidentally, not dished up, served up on a platter. “
“Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.”
“Human life has meaning only to that degree and as long as it is lived in the service of humanity.”
“Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus, it must be safeguarded.”
“No human is completely fearless. “
Station Magazine had earlier shared quotes from the renowned Mrs. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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