--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to…" description: "\"Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.\" — Wole Soyinka" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg" --- # Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that… ![“Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg) > “Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.” [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dictatorship erodes national identity, reducing a people to a subjugated, alien‑controlled entity. **In simple terms:** Loss of nationhood under tyranny Key Takeaway Power can strip collective existence Themes political oppression national identity colonial metaphor human freedom Mood somber critical Type aphorism political commentary When to use this quote - living under a totalitarian regime - examining post‑colonial societies - discussing sci‑fi allegories of oppression Key Concepts authoritarianism dehumanization social control Practical Applications - political analysis - educational curricula on human rights Questions to Reflect On - What defines a nation's existence? - How does external domination reshape identity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aliens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliens/) [Dictatorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorship/) [Outer space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outer-space/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) ## Related quotes > [“It is vital that we not be made to seem wholly helpless in the opening moments of the war. Once a nation ceases to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/it-is-vital-that-we-not-be-made-to-seem-wholly-helpless-in-the/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [Woe to that nation whose literature is disturbed by the intervention of power. Because that is not just a violation against "freedom of print,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/woe-to-that-nation-whose-literature-is-disturbed-by-the-intervention-2/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [In the New Testament, Thomas Jefferson cut out everything that was mystical, magical, miracle - physically with scissors - and then pasted in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-new-testament-thomas-jefferson-cut-out-everything-that-was/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Lots of different ways to live and lots of different ways to die. But in the end that doesn't make a bit of difference.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/lots-of-different-ways-to-live-and-lots-of-different-ways-to-die-but/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [It's not my story anymore: whenever I speak about the past now, I feel as if I were talking about something that has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-s-not-my-story-anymore-whenever-i-speak-about-the-past-now-i-feel/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Nobody the dead man & Nobody the living Nobody is giving in & Nobody is giving Nobody hears me but just Nobody cares Nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/nobody-the-dead-man-nobody-the-living-nobody-is-giving-in-nobody-is/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [In 1997, we faced daunting challenges. Boom and bust economics… Now, for all that remains to be done, dwell for a moment on what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/in-1997-we-faced-daunting-challenges-boom-and-bust-economics-now-for/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Everyone just keeps on disappearing. Some things vanish, like they were cut away. Others fade slowly into the mist. And all that remains is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/everyone-just-keeps-on-disappearing-some-things-vanish-like-they-were/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Germany's potential makes up about 20% of the EU's overall economic power, including Great Britain. The German army is by no means strong enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaroslaw-kaczynski/germany-s-potential-makes-up-about-20-of-the-eu-s-overall-economic/) [Jaroslaw Kaczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaroslaw-kaczynski/) > [Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/like-a-wind-crying-endlessly-through-the-universe-time-carries-away/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) > [For me, making a photograph is mostly an intellectual process of understanding people or cities and their historical and phenomenological connections. At that point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-struth/for-me-making-a-photograph-is-mostly-an-intellectual-process-of/) [Thomas Struth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-struth/) > [All that remains is a fate whose outcome alone is fatal. Outside of that single fatality of death, everything, joy or happiness, is liberty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/all-that-remains-is-a-fate-whose-outcome-alone-is-fatal-outside-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/all-that-remains-of-that-minute-is-time-in-all-its-purity-bone-white/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [To Toronto City Council: The Sam The Record Man store and sign were important fixtures in Toronto's musical landscape as well as its Civic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geddy-lee/to-toronto-city-council-the-sam-the-record-man-store-and-sign-were/) [Geddy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geddy-lee/) > [But who can remember pain, once its over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/but-who-can-remember-pain-once-its-over-all-that-remains-of-it-is-a/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More by Wole Soyinka > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [What I teach is literary criticism and comparative literature and so on and that's my function, but from time to time it's possible for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/what-i-teach-is-literary-criticism-and-comparative-literature-and-so/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) [Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More Aliens quotes > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [Ay-firmative,' Eve said, and tried for a smile. 'Sorry. An Aliens reference always makes me feel better at times like this. Exept I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/ay-firmative-eve-said-and-tried-for-a-smile-sorry-an-aliens-reference/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [Emma was a shocking driver, simultaneously sloppy and petrified, and for the first fifty miles had been absent-mindedly driving with her spectacles on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/emma-was-a-shocking-driver-simultaneously-sloppy-and-petrified-and/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [If you're going to immerse yourself in a project for three years, why not stake out a chunk of the world that is completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-powers/if-you-re-going-to-immerse-yourself-in-a-project-for-three-years-why/) [Richard Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-powers/) > [I'm not a fan of any genre but am a fan of movies that are intelligent and/or funny. That goes across all genres: a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-a-fan-of-any-genre-but-am-a-fan-of-movies-that-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The respect for human rights, essential if we are to use technology wisely, is not something alien that must be grafted onto science. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/the-respect-for-human-rights-essential-if-we-are-to-use-technology/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [“Intellectualism is a poor master over passion”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twe-stephens/intellectualism-is-a-poor-master-over-passion/) Twe Stephens > [Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/robin-williams-was-an-airman-a-doctor-a-genie-a-nanny-a-president-a/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Evangelicals are distraught over the state of America because they have not been taught that we're aliens here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/evangelicals-are-distraught-over-the-state-of-america-because-they/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Even the Supreme Court, back when it used to makes sense, the Supreme Court has never ruled that a baby born to illegal aliens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/even-the-supreme-court-back-when-it-used-to-makes-sense-the-supreme/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Browse all 1,329 Aliens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliens/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wole Soyinka" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aliens" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/wole-soyinka-1587_aliens_under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to_44414.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented…” — Wole Soyinka", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wole Soyinka", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```