Top 35 Wilbur Smith Quotes

There’s nothing so aphrodisiacal for a woman as money and success.

I’m not a prophet; I can only use historical reality to come to a view of the future, and my view is that Africa will return to being African and not European. The advent of colonialism was foreign to the country itself, but it will return to what it was before the Europeans arrived.

I go on a hunting safari at least once a year to Botswana, which is fantastic because we have a huge area of wilderness entirely to ourselves. My island covers roughly 55 acres, which again I have to myself, with nearly half a kilometre of private beach with my own jetties and boats.

My mama loved books; I became fascinated by the wonderful stories that came out of these things she held in her hand – and started to make them up myself.

I grew up in Rhodesia on my father’s ranch and every year he used to take us on safari in some remote area of the wilderness.

They say if you drink Zambezi water with your mother’s milk, you are always a slave of Africa, and I am.

The first novel I wrote was a monster – clocking in at 180,000 words – but it died a death, a death it deserved. It was called ‘The Gods First Make Mad.’ It was a good title, but it was the only good thing about the book. I didn’t let that put me off.

I want to be seen as a good storyteller. I’m a manipulator as well.

The whole structure of African government, as far back as we know, was based on tyranny. One guy ran the show. Chiefs like Chaka and Mzilikazi committed terrible atrocities. That is the tradition from which modern African rulers spring. It won’t change easily overnight.

You know that feeling when you finish a final exam and you think, ‘I never want to do that again’? Well I have the same feeling when I finish a novel. Each time I say, ‘I think I may retire now’ and then after six months the ideas start to churn again. I could never stop.

Many people have compared me to the Victorian adventure writer, Rider Haggard. I accept that as a compliment. As a boy growing up in Central Africa I read all Haggard’s African novels.

What I like about writing is the sense of godlike power it gives you.

I used to own an island in the Seychelles and had a big boat there and one day I came across some Somali pirates who were passing by on their way to re-provision their boat. They didn’t even acknowledge me – which is unheard of among sailors – and it was like looking into the eyes of a black mamba.

The mistake the apartheid government made was they gave the black people nothing, so they had nothing to lose. But now a lot of the former freedom-fighters are big-time capitalists. They’ve been given directorships in every major company. They’re billionaires!

Herbert, my father, was born in Britain but went out to Africa in his teens to join his father and built up an 18,000-acre ranch in what was then Northern Rhodesia, providing work for the locals. He was my hero when I was a boy.

I’ve been associated with Macmillan for over 45 years. I’d like to thank them for their continued commitment to my backlist and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they publish my next novel, ‘Vicious Circle’ in 2013.

I put my soul into every book I write.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

As regards to personal safety, you do have to be careful not to put yourself at risk when travelling in South Africa. You don’t want to go out exploring at night, for example.

There are people out there with an eye on my hard-earned cash who think that I am a pushover. I am not!

I don’t want children. Why should I let some strange little monster into my life to destroy what to me is a perfect set-up?

I shot my first lion at the age of 14 when a pride threatened my father’s livestock while he was away on holiday.

I have never had too much trouble for creative ideas to spring up in my mind.

I’m not a good father and they’re not children any more; the eldest is in his fifties. My relationship with their mothers broke down and, because of what the law was, they went with their mothers and were imbued with their mothers’ morality in life and they were not my people any more.

At the age of 12 I won the school prize for Best English Essay. The prize was a copy of Somerset Maugham’s ‘Introduction To Modern English And American Literature.’ To this day I keep it on the shelf between my collection of Forester’s works and the little urn that contains my mother’s ashes.

I have done everything I have ever wanted to do. I have swum with tiger sharks, been charged by lions and elephants. I have been shot three times, chased by crocodiles and, God be praised, I’ve made enough money that I can continue to do all the things I want to for as long as I am able.

To me, my characters are more real than most people I meet.

The first story I ever sold was to ‘Argosy’ magazine, which no longer exists. That issue also contained work by several other more celebrated writers, like Ray Bradbury – so I felt I had at least one toe on the ladder.

Write for yourself, not for a perceived audience. If you do, you’ll mostly fall flat on your face, because it’s impossible to judge what people want. And you have to read. That’s how you learn what is good writing and what is bad. Then the main thing is application. It’s hard work.

You don’t turn out as many books as I did then by sitting around, being cozy with the family.

People don’t really know themselves until they’re 30. Like most people nowadays, I went to university, got a degree and wandered for a bit. I trained to be a chartered accountant, which I didn’t much enjoy, and it was only slowly that the idea of becoming a creative writer gelled.

I hate politics. I like to write about it, but to get involved in it, to try and make a lot of ignorant people do what you want them to do, waste of time. Go and write a book. It’s more important and it’ll last longer.

Literature throws us many great heroes. Real life invariably outdoes them.

It’s probably true that everyone has a book in them, although it may not be a very good one.

I’m not perfect and I know it. I’ve done all sorts of things that are frowned upon these days – big-game hunting, fishing. I still enjoy fishing but I don’t kill warm-blooded animals any more – I make an exception with birds sometimes.