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 ACHEBEWhen an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
-
-
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 -
When a mad man walks naked, it is his kinsmen who feel shame, not himself.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A coward may cover the ground with his words but when the time comes to fight he runs away.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
My son even if you want to fall, at least fall where your bones can be gathered.
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 -
What a man does not know is greater than he.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A debt may get mouldy, but it never decays.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
No man however great is greater than his people.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A disease that has never been seen before cannot be cured with every-day herbs.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Dancing is very important nowadays. No girl will look at you if you can’t dance.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
A goat does not eat into a hen’s stomach no matter how friendly the two may be.
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 -
Procrastination is a lazy man’s apology.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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 -
The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
The man that brings ant-infested faggots into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit.
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 -
If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.
CHINUA ACHEBE -
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 -
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.
CHINUA ACHEBE