No man however great is greater than his people.
CHINUA ACHEBEThe world is large,” said Okonkwo. “I have even heard that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and her family.” “That cannot be,” said Machi. “You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the babies.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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Nobody can teach me who I am.
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My weapon is literature.
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Dancing is very important nowadays. No girl will look at you if you can’t dance.
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People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.
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It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have – otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
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Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality.
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While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.
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We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.
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My son even if you want to fall, at least fall where your bones can be gathered.
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I think not just Nigeria but I think the whole of Africa has to turn back to the rural areas and that’s where the majority of the citizens are and that’s where the engine of of development has to be found.
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Only the story can continue beyond the war and the warrior. The story outlives the sound of the war drum… The story is our escort. Without it we are blind… It is the thing that sets us apart from cattle.
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Each of my books is different. Deliberately. I wanted to create my society, my people, in their fullness.
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I think back to the old people I knew when I was growing up, and they always seemed larger than life.
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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.
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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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Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too – If one says no to the other, let his wing break.
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A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.
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There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.
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A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself.
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Charity is the opium of the privileged.
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You do not know me,’ said Tortoise. ‘I am a changed man. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.
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The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use.
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The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.
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Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
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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.
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If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own. If you don’t like what somebody says, say what it is you don’t like.
CHINUA ACHEBE