The time for sleepwalking is over

Ben Okri (born March 15, 1959, Minna, Nigeria) is a Nigerian novelist, short-story writer, and poet who used magic realism to convey the social and political chaos in the country of his birth. Okri attended Urhobo College in Warri, Nigeria, and the University of Essex in Colchester, England.

1. “Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.”
2. “The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”
3. “Reading, therefore, is an act of civilization; it’s one of the greatest acts of civilization because it takes the free raw material of the mind and builds castles of possibilities.”
4. “To be alive is to be a dreamer, and a good dreamer is one who can make the dream come true.”
5. “The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.”
6. “We are the miracles that God made to taste the bitter fruit of time.”
7. “Our future is greater than our past.”
8. “We live by stories, we also live in them. One way or another we are living the stories planted in us early or along the way, or we are also living the stories we planted—knowingly or unknowingly—in ourselves.”
9. “The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as creative participants in the universe, to re-dream our world.”
10. “The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love, and to be greater than our suffering.”
11. “The greatest stories are simple.“
12. “When chaos is the god of an era, clamorous music is the deity’s chief instrument.”
13. “The magic of life is its richness and variety. Let the magic of life call you back to the world.”
14. “The world is full of love that goes unspoken. It doesn’t mean it is felt less deeply. The world is full of pain that is never voiced, but it is no less real.”
15. “Who knows the colours of the future? Only the heart.”
16. In every shadow lies a story waiting to be told.”
17. “Dreams are the whispers of the soul, guiding us toward our true path.”
18. “To create is to touch the divine; it is an act of faith in what can be.”
19. “Hope is the light that beckons us through the darkest of nights.”
20. “We are all storytellers, weaving the tapestry of our lives with threads of experience.”
21. “Every moment is a chance to rewrite our narrative.”
22. “The heart knows what the mind cannot comprehend; it is the compass of our journey.”
23. “In the silence of our thoughts, the loudest stories are born.”
24. “Life’s beauty often lies in its imperfections, for they add depth to our tales.”
25. “Art is the bridge that connects the known and the unknown.”
26. “To listen is to honor the stories that shape our world.”
27. “Every ending is but a new beginning cloaked in the robes of change.”
28. “The universe is a canvas, and we are the artists of our destinies.”
29. “Magic exists in the ordinary; we must choose to see it.”
30. “Our scars are the markers of survival, telling tales of resilience.”
31. “In the dance of life, every step is a story, every breath a possibility.”
32. “The whispers of the past echo in the actions of the present.”
33. “To dream is to live; to live is to create our own reality.”
34. “In the garden of imagination, every thought is a seed waiting to blossom.”
35. “The most profound truths often come dressed in the garb of simplicity.”