The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.
CHINUA ACHEBEAnd theories are no more than fictions which help us to make sense of experience and which are subject to disconfirmation when their explanations are no longer adequate.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
-
-
There is that great proverb – that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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 -
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 ACHEBE -
Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A man who does not lick his lips, can he blame the harmattan for drying them?
CHINUA ACHEBE -
If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it’s far removed from your situation.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Every lizard lies on its belly, so we cannot tell which has a belly-ache
CHINUA ACHEBE -
If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
It is the story that owns and directs us. It is the thing that makes us different from cattle; it is the mark on the face that sets one people apart from their neighbors.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to feel that the story that I was told about this religion wasn’t perhaps completely whole, that something was left out.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.
CHINUA ACHEBE