I think the epicentre of terrorism whether you call it cesspit or whatever you want to call it, shift, if you asked me a while ago, I would have said Somalia, Somalia has quietened a bit - and I think the epicentre right now is in Northern Nigeria. Wole Soyinka More Quotes by Wole Soyinka More Quotes From Wole Soyinka You cannot live a normal existence if you haven't taken care of a problem that affects your life and affects the lives of others, values that you hold which in fact define your very existence. Wole Soyinka care taken facts Only 4 sets of people can vote for the PDP: (1) those who are intellectually blind; (2) those who are blinded by ethnicity; (3) those who are blinded by corruption and therefore afraid of the unknown, should power change hands; and finally (4) those who are suffering from a combination of the above terminal sicknesses. Wole Soyinka ethnicity hands people Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion. Wole Soyinka safety shadow reality The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism. Wole Soyinka criticism absence inspirational 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 wake-up everyday people 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 skeletons doe forests Be yourself. Ultimately just be yourself. Wole Soyinka being-yourself positive-thinking inspirational Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth. Wole Soyinka wish writing book 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. Wole Soyinka horse practice children We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where. Wole Soyinka humanity matter world Looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done. Wole Soyinka done feelings people 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 minorities definitions accepting Intolerance has become, I think, the reigning ideology of the world today, the intolerance versus intolerance and it's taken on lethal proportions. Wole Soyinka taken world thinking History teaches us to beware of the excitation of the liberated and the injustices that often accompany their righteous thirst for justice. Wole Soyinka righteous teach justice The writer is the visionary of his people... He anticipates, he warns. Wole Soyinka anticipate visionaries people 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. Wole Soyinka petroleum oil country Nigeria is so peculiar and dramatic. Even talking about the potentials before we talk about the negativities, Nigeria is a nation for perpetual study. I think in Nigeria, it is the potential which hits people and makes them believe in Nigeria. It tends to make them react when they see potentials being wasted and it is a tragedy to see potentials wasted. But paradoxically, it is a realization of the existence, that positive, that keeps many Nigerians and even foreign people going. Wole Soyinka talking believe thinking The man dies in all those that keep silent. Wole Soyinka silent dies men The hand that dips into the bottom of the pot will eat the biggest snail. Wole Soyinka dip pot hands 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. Wole Soyinka initiative interest integrity
