Wole Soyinka Quotes

A collection of quotes by Wole Soyinka.

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayist, widely regarded as one of Africa's most distinguished literary figures. Born on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Nigeria, Soyinka grew up in an academic and book-loving family. He embraced education from an early age and went on to study English literature, Greek, and Western history at University College, Ibadan.

Throughout his career, Soyinka's writing tackled various themes, including cultural identity, politics, and social injustice. He became the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, solidifying his global recognition. Soyinka's literary works include plays such as "A Dance of the Forests," "Death and the King's Horseman," and "The Man Died: Prison Notes," as well as numerous poems and essays.

Aside from his literary achievements, Soyinka has been actively involved in politics and human rights activism in Nigeria. He criticized the oppressive Nigerian government, leading to his arrest and imprisonment for 22 months during the Nigerian Civil War.

Soyinka's commitment to social justice and freedom of expression continues to make a significant impact not only in Nigeria but globally. His literary and political contributions have earned him worldwide respect and admiration, affirming his position as a key figure in African literature and a voice for justice and liberty.

And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that t

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.

I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in t

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.

Morning

Well, the first thing is that truth and power for me form an

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.

Freedom

Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish

Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.

Truth

The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.

The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.

Freedom

But when you're deprived of it for a lengthy period then you

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.

Amazing

But theater, because of its nature, both text, images, multi

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.

Art

There's a kind of dynamic quality about theater and that dyn

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.

Nature

And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of

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

Best

Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective

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

Power

I found, when I left, that there were others who felt the sa

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.

Future

My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of

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.

Music

There is only one home to the life of a river-mussel there i

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?

Great