Ben Okri Quotes
I began my writing life as a poet, so poetry has always been fundamental. I evolved from poetry to journalism to stories to novels. But poetry was always there.
Quotes to Explore
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It is shallow people who think beauty is frivolous or excessive. If you are bringing beauty and god, you are enriching the country. Rice feeds the body, books feed the mind, beauty feeds the soul. It is one thing I can really be proud of and stand tall in the world.
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Everywhere I go, I will make a good payday. But we got to choose the right opponent and the right time and the right venue.
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When I'm out on the stage, it gives me this rush and anything that's on my mind and everything I'm going through is forgotten about.
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We're dealing with sophisticated customers. What's most important to these women is individuality. I have to create things she'll want to wear, no matter who she is.
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Because the nights bring the threat of invasion and terror to the villages, thousands of children in northern Uganda have become night commuters, leaving the nightmare of capture behind for the safety of the city.
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I am sure I am one of 2,000 film directors in the world that Tarantino admires.
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I've been a victim in every film I have done so far. It would be nice to play someone who doesn't get killed for once. Then again, I am getting really good at screaming and fake tears.
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I don't really do sad, depressing songs.
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My wife and I often visit Rosales and the Ilokos as a matter of habit or whim induced by nostalgia, homesickness - whatever draws pilgrims to worshipped sanctuaries. Or, perhaps, what compels moths to seek the votive flame.
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In life go straight and turn right.
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I never thought about having a daughter, and then I had a daughter, and it was a remarkable thing. It was very different from having a son and your response to it. With a son, it's much more complex. And it's probably because of my stuff in the past. With a daughter, I was surprised at how simple it is.
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The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
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Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough.
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Thanks to my father, we were always in good horses.
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I made nothing happen very slowly.
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And the success of the union movement, historically, has always been to benefit all working men and women - not just people who belong to the union.
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I'll never get married again, and I always hate to say never to anything, but I will never marry again.
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The key is a good story. If you have a good story, you have enough emotional beats that you can hit.
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The more desperate you are, the more mistakes you make.
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I've been so blessed in my life that things have kind of seemed to fall in place for me. I just have to keep on the right path and not jaunt off to the left or the right.
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If we give our children sound self-love, they will be able to deal with whatever life puts before them.
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Writing helps me create a different world that I can escape to.
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I am writing this during my free . . . oops! un-assigned period, at the end of my first day of teaching. So far, I have taught nothing — but I have learned a great deal. To wit: We have to punch a time clock and abide by the Rules. We must make sure our students likewise abide, and that they sign the time sheet whenever they leave or reenter a room. We have keys but no locks (except in lavatories), blackboards but no chalk, students but no seats, teachers but no time to teach. The library is closed to the students.
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I began my writing life as a poet, so poetry has always been fundamental. I evolved from poetry to journalism to stories to novels. But poetry was always there.
