In dealing with a man who thinks you are a fool, it is good sometimes to remind him that you know what he knows but have chosen to appear foolish for the sake of peace.
CHINUA ACHEBEWe cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.
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When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth
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I prefer to go on trying all kinds of things, not to be told, This is the way it is done.
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What a man does not know is greater than he.
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If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.
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When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.
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An artist in my view is always afraid of extremists; he is always afraid of those who claim to have found the ultimate solution to any question.
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Most writers who are beginners, if they are honest with themselves, will admit that they are praying for a readership as they begin to write. But it should be the quality of the craft, not the audience, that should be the greatest motivating factor.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
The singer should sing well even if it is merely to himself, rather than dance badly for the whole world.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
I don’t like to see mistakes on the typewriter. I like a perfect script. On the typewriter I will sometimes leave a phrase that is not right, not what I want, simply because to change it would be a bit messy.
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The language of young men is pull down and destroy; but an old man speaks of conciliation.
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When a mad man walks naked, it is his kinsmen who feel shame, not himself.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
We do not seek to hurt any man, but if any man seeks to hurt us may he break his neck.
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Procrastination is a lazy man’s apology.
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The impatient idealist says: ‘Give me a place to stand and I shall move the earth.’ But such a place does not exist. We all have to stand on the earth itself and go with her at her pace.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
One reason why I am quite angry with what is happening in Nigeria today is that everything has collapsed. If I decide to go back now, there will be so many problems – where will I find the physical therapy and other things that I now require?
CHINUA ACHEBE -
As a rule I don’t like suffering to no purpose. Suffering should be creative, should give birth to something good and lovely.
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Become familiar with your home, but know also about your neighbors. The young man who never went anywhere thinks his mother is the greatest cook.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Art is man’s constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him.
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People go to Africa and confirm what they already have in their heads and so they fail to see what is there in front of them.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.
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Women and music should not be dated.
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People say that if you find water rising up to your ankle, that’s the time to do something about it, not when it’s around your neck.
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When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Do not be in a hurry to rush into the pleasures of the world like the young antelope who danced herself lame when the main dance was yet to come.
CHINUA ACHEBE