Now one of the changes that must come to Africa is the idea of limited rule, I mean in term of how long one leader can stay in power. The era of president for life is not gone yet but it is on its way out and that is one of the problems with Mugabe and others.
CHINUA ACHEBEAmong the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.
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What a man does not know is greater than he.
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When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands.
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A man of worth never gets up to unsay what he said yesterday.
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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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Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own.
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We shall all live. We pray for life, children, a good harvest and happiness. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. Let the kite perch and let the egret perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.
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When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don’t just turn it off one day.
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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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When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see.
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When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate.
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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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Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality.
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Nobody can teach me who I am. You can describe parts of me, but who I am – and what I need – is something I have to find out myself.
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We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye n’ani ji onwe ya: ‘He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down.’
CHINUA ACHEBE