Wole Soyinka

Nigerian playwright, Nobel laureate

Contemporary influential 62 sayings

Sayings by Wole Soyinka

The purpose of art is to wash the dust of daily life off our souls.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am not afraid of death; I am afraid of a life unlived.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The greatest wealth is health.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

He who has a 'why' to live, can bear almost any 'how.'

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Unknown — Speech
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I would rather be a rebel than a slave.

Unknown — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.

1960s — Response to Negritude movement debates
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

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

1986 — Speech at PEN International
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have a certain reputation for being difficult. I prefer to think of it as being uncompromising.

1994 — Interview with The Paris Review
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

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

1997 — Lecture at Harvard University
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I don’t believe in censorship. I believe in letting idiots expose themselves.

2015 — Interview with BBC
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Religion is one of the most dangerous forces in the world.

2004 — Debate on secularism
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Dictators are like vampires—they drain the lifeblood of a nation.

1999 — Speech at a human rights event
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

If you don’t like my writing, don’t read it. But don’t tell me what to write.

1988 — Response to critics
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Religion is one of the most pernicious creations of humanity.

2004 — Interview on the role of religion in society
Controversial Unverifiable

Nigeria is a nation of hypocrites—we celebrate criminals and crucify the innocent.

2015 — Speech at a public lecture in Lagos
Controversial Unverifiable