Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
Let's say there are prospects for a new Nigeria, but I don't think we have a new Nigeria yet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the potential for a better future but acknowledges the current reality is still lacking.
Wole Soyinka expresses a sense of hope regarding the future of Nigeria, suggesting that there are opportunities and possibilities for transformation. However, he candidly admits that the changes necessary for a truly 'new Nigeria' have not yet materialized, emphasizing a gap between aspiration and reality. This highlights the importance of recognizing both the prospects for improvement and the need for continued efforts towards achieving meaningful change.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about social change, one could reference this quote to highlight the challenges ahead.
More from Wole Soyinka
All quotes →Trading and religion have always been aligned together in the history of the world, and especially on the African continent.
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.
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.
I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.
Art is solace; art is vision, and when I pick up a literary work, I am a consumer of literature for its own sake.
Similar quotes
What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits.
Imagine if everyone was able to help just one child who needs to be listened to, needs to be respected, and needs to be loved - we could make such a huge difference for an entire generation.
After weeks on the road, listening to a language you don’t understand, using a currency whose value you don’t comprehend, walking down streets you’ve never walked down before, you discover that your old “I,” along with everything you ever learned, is absolutely no use at all in the face of those new challenges, and you begin to realize that buried deep in your unconscious mind there is someone much more interesting and adventurous and more open to the world and to new experiences.
In an organization that is unwilling to change, find the opportunity to talk and interact with people - figure out why they don't want to change. It could be habits. It could be people's personal equities and reputations are defined by the role they're in or the process they've mastered.
The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.
It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won't come back.