Ben Okri

"Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide."

"I am not fighting for success, just to get more beauty out of myself and share it with more people."

"Don't despair too much if you see beautiful things destroyed, if you see them perish. Because the best things are always growing in secret."

"The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader."

"I was born left-handed, but I was made to use my other hand. When I was writing 'Famished Road,' which was very long, I got repetitive stress syndrome. My right wrist collapsed, so I started using my left hand. The prose I wrote with my left hand came out denser, so later on I had to change it."

"One of the greatest gifts my father gave me - unintentionally - was witnessing the courage with which he bore adversity. We had a bit of a rollercoaster life with some really challenging financial periods. He was always unshaken, completely tranquil, the same ebullient, laughing, jovial man."