Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
Wole SoyinkaRead
I'm not sure I'm trying to communicate a message. I'm just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire to move towards a better future rather than convey a specific message.
Wole Soyinka reflects on his engagement with societal change, indicating that his primary focus is not on delivering a specific message but rather on participating in the collective effort to transform an unacceptable present reality. He implies that the act of involvement in social movements is crucial to instigating meaningful change, suggesting that sometimes the act of being part of a movement speaks louder than words.
Themes
ChangeMovementActivismParticipationSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of collective action.
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.
Wole SoyinkaRead
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.
Wole SoyinkaRead
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.
Wole SoyinkaRead
I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.
Wole SoyinkaRead
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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It's early days. A few skeletons are bound to keep jumping out of the closet.
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This is the fear that made fish crawl out onto dry land and evolve lungs, the fear that teaches us to run, the fear that makes us bury our dead.
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