Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
Wole SoyinkaRead
Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing is a powerful tool against oppression.
Wole Soyinka emphasizes the critical role that books and writing play in revealing the truth and challenging oppressive forces. For those who seek to suppress the truth, the written word serves as a profound threat, as it has the power to inform, educate, and liberate minds, making it difficult to maintain control over narratives and knowledge.
Themes
BooksWritingTruthOppressionKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on freedom of expression, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of literature in fighting oppression.
More from Wole Soyinka
All quotes βTrading and religion have always been aligned together in the history of the world, and especially on the African continent.
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A war, with its attendant human suffering, must, when that evil is unavoidable, be made to fragment more than buildings: It must shatter the foundations of thought and re-create. Only in this way does every individual share in the cataclysm and understand the purpose of sacrifice.
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Rwanda, which is one of the younger independent states in Africa, must be regarded as a model of how great human trauma can be transformed to commence true reconstruction of people. Human trauma can lead to stunted growth and mass withdrawal.
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I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.
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Art is solace; art is vision, and when I pick up a literary work, I am a consumer of literature for its own sake.
Wole SoyinkaRead
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