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" Probably to me the greatest singer, female voice, is Billie Holiday. And one of the most moving for me, I don't know why - maybe it's nostalgia, maybe because my life is one of constant partying, whatever. "

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" Given the scale of trauma caused by the genocide, Rwanda has indicated that however thin the hope of a community can be, a hero always emerges. Although no one can dare claim that it is now a perfect state, and that no more work is needed, Rwanda has risen from the ashes as a model or truth and reconciliation. "

Wole Soyinka

Truth

Now

Community

" I like to say, 'I spend one-third of my time in Nigeria, one-third in Europe or America, and one-third on a plane.' "

" There are different kinds of artists and very often, I'll be very frank with you, I wish I were a different kind. "

" Some people think the Nobel Prize makes you bullet-proof. I never had that illusion. "

" You cannot live a normal existence if you haven't taken care of a problem that affects your life and affects the lives of others, values that you hold which in fact define your very existence. "

" I've done a lot of guerrilla theater in my time. "

" And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others. "

" I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art festivals; I was involved in school plays; I wrote essays, so there was no definite moment when I said, 'Now I'm a writer.' I've always been a writer. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" But when you're deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship. But you have to survive and so you devise all kinds of mental exercises and it's amazing. "

" One has to confront history honestly. "

" I'm not fond of biographies. I don't like writing about myself. "

Wole Soyinka

About

Fond

" I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I've never understood. "

" The writer is the visionary of his people... He anticipates, he warns. "

Wole Soyinka

Visionary

People

" I don't have the sort of temperament that submits to Christianity or Islam. "

" One has a responsibility to clean up one's space and make it livable as far as one's own resources go. That includes not only material resources, but psychological resources: the commitment of time and a portion of your mind to something when you'd rather be doing something else. "

" Some of the greatest uprisings and consequent civil wars in Mexico have centered squarely on the ownership of land. "

" I ceased using words like optimism and pessimism a long time ago. "

" Trading and religion have always been aligned together in the history of the world, and especially on the African continent. "

" England is the breeding ground of fundamentalist Muslims. Its social logic is to allow all religions to preach openly. But this is illogic, because none of the other religions preach apocalyptic violence. And yet England allows it. "

" I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper. "

" 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. "

" Well, first of all I'll say that I come alive best in theater. "

" All religions accept that there is something called 'criminality.' And criminality cannot be excused by religious fervour. "

Wole Soyinka

Something

Religious

" Human life has meaning only to that degree and as long as it is lived in the service of humanity. "

" I take friendship very seriously. "

" I like my peace and quiet whenever I can grab it. "

Wole Soyinka

I Can

Quiet

" The blatant aggressiveness of theocracies I find distressing, because I grew up when Christians, Muslim and animists lived peacefully together. "

" There is only one home to the life of a river-mussel; there is only one home to the life of a tortoise; there is only one shell to the soul of man: there is only one world to the spirit of our race. If that world leaves its course and smashes on boulders of the great void, whose world will give us shelter? "