Wole Soyinka's Quotes

“The man dies in all those that keep silent.” ― 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

The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.
Wole Soyinka

And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that there's nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it's sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms. Wole Soyinka

“Romance is the sweetening of the soul
With fragrance offered by the stricken heart.” ― Wole Soyinka, Lion and the Jewel

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

Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie.
Wole Soyinka

I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.
Wole Soyinka

“Some of us – poets are not exactly poets. We live sometimes – beyond the word.” ― Wole Soyinka

There's a kind of dynamic quality about theater and that dynamic quality expresses itself in relation to, first of all, the environment in which it's being staged; then the audience, the nature of the audience, the quality of the audience.
Wole Soyinka

And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.
Wole Soyinka

But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all. 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.
Wole Soyinka

I grew up in an atmosphere where words were an integral part of culture. Wole Soyinka

The novel, for me, was an accident. I really don't consider myself a novelist.
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. Wole Soyinka

I don't really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wole Soyinka

One thing I can tell you is this, that I am not a methodical writer.
Wole Soyinka

One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as is happening right now as we are speaking.
Wole Soyinka

“The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail.”
― Wole Soyinka

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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?”
― Wole Soyinka

“Well, I think the Yoruba gods are truthful. Truthful in the sense that i consider religion and the construct of deities simply an extension of human qualities taken, if you like, to the nth degree. i mistrust gods who become so separated from humanity that enormous crimes can be committed in their names. i prefer gods who can be brought down to earth and judged, if you like.”
― Wole Soyinka