Wole Soyinka

Film & Theater Nigeria 1934 94 quotes

Nobel laureate of Death and the King's Horseman, Soyinka blended Yoruba tradition with quotable political satire.

Quotes by Wole Soyinka

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

Speech

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

Speech

Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.

Speech

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

Speech

If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.

Speech

The future depends on what you do today.

Speech

Power is everywhere; hence it is everywhere not.

Myth, Literature and the African World 1975

A tiger does not proclaim his might in the marketplace.

The Man Died 1965

The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.

Speech 1980

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

Nobel Lecture 1994

In an ideal world, you secure the freedom of others before you secure your own.

Interview 2000

The greatest tragedy is not oppression, but the failure to resist it.

The Man Died 1972

Theater is the medium of the oppressed.

Lecture on Theater 1985

One way of life is not exchangeable for another.

Myth, Literature and the African World 1976

Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon of liberation.

Essay 1960

The human animal is a fascinating specimen of contradictions and ambiguities.

Ake: The Years of Childhood 1990

In the theater, the audience is the final arbiter.

Interview on Theater 1970

Tyrants lack the imagination to create their own enemies.

Isara: A Voyage around Essay 1988

The writer's duty is to keep the language alive.

Speech 2002

Africa is people. On that continent, the people are primary.

Interview 1991