10 heartfelt, relatable and intelligent quotes from Ken Saro-Wiwa

1. Use your talent to inspire people

"The most important thing for me is that I’ve used my talents as a writer to enable the Ogoni people to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it. And it sure makes me feel good! I’m mentally prepared for the worst, but hopeful for the best. I think I have the moral victory.”

2. If you want to become a writer, you must be ready to effect change in the society.

"The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society’s weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future.”

3. Do not shy away from speaking against injustice

"I am not one of those who shy away from protesting injustice and oppression."

4. Politicians are frightened by social media and the power of the pen

“The men who ordain and supervise this show of shame, this tragic charade, are frightened by the word, the power of ideas, the power of the pen.”5. Writers should fight against injustice and corrupt governance

"In this country [England], writers write to entertain, they raise questions of individual existence…but for a Nigerian writer in my position you can’t go into that. Literature has to be combative.”

6. Commit your time, money and energy to fighting against evil

“Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow.”

7. If you speak for the common man, your ideas would never die

"I’ll tell you this, I may be dead but my ideas will not die."

8. Tell a different story

"The stories that I tell must have a different sort of purpose from the artist in the Western world...and art, in that instance, becomes so meaningful both to the artist and to the consumers of that art, because you do not just depend on them to read your books, you even have to live a life that they can emulate.”

9. Politicians lying and cheating openly

"As we subscribe to the sub-normal and accept double standards, as we lie and cheat openly, as we protect injustice and oppression, we empty our classrooms, denigrate our hospitals, fill our stomachs with hunger and elect to make ourselves the slaves of those who ascribe to higher standards"

10. A man of peace

"I am a man of peace, of ideas."

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