Literature doesn't have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness of spirit. The characters of Turgenev are ghetto dwellers. Dickens' characters are Nigerians. Do y

Quote by Ben Okri

Topics: Life Quotes, Literature Quotes

Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.

Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.

I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went...

I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went...

The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our...

The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our...

Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.

Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.

The greatest stories are those that resonate our beginnings and intuit our endings, our mysterious...

The greatest stories are those that resonate our beginnings and intuit our endings, our mysterious...

I was going to be a scientist.

I was going to be a scientist.

The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where...

The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where...

Reading, like writing, is a creative act. If readers only bring a narrow range of...

Reading, like writing, is a creative act. If readers only bring a narrow range of...

I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends'...

I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends'...

You see, I was told stories, we were all told stories as kids in Nigeria....

You see, I was told stories, we were all told stories as kids in Nigeria....

Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible.

Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible.

We have fallen into this very mean description of humanity. Naturalism in fiction is too...

We have fallen into this very mean description of humanity. Naturalism in fiction is too...

Don't despair too much if you see beautiful things destroyed, if you see them perish....

Don't despair too much if you see beautiful things destroyed, if you see them perish....

The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as...

The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as...

Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible.

Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible.

We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood,...

We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood,...

I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went...

I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went...

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those...

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those...

Literature is an investment of genius which has dividends to all subsequent times

Literature is an investment of genius which has dividends to all subsequent times

The one and only substitute for experience which we have not ourselves had is art,...

The one and only substitute for experience which we have not ourselves had is art,...