The man that brings ant-infested faggots into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit.
CHINUA ACHEBEThe damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life.
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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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The problem with leaderless uprisings taking over is that you don’t always know what you get at the other end. If you are not careful you could replace a bad government with one much worse!
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A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness
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If you have leaders who are prepared to incite group against group it is very easy to manufacture reasons and excuses.
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It has always been quite apparent to me that no important story can fail to tell us something of value to us.
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My weapon is literature.
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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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A man who does not lick his lips, can he blame the harmattan for drying them?
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There is that great proverb – that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.
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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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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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A goat does not eat into a hen’s stomach no matter how friendly the two may be.
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If I hold her hand she says, ‘Don’t touch!’ If I hold her foot she says ‘Don’t touch!’ But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.
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Every generation must find its mission and fulfill it, as Fanon said – or betray it. So it is not something that you can write up on the wall, saying this is what has to be done. Every generation has to discover what it needs to do.
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If one finger brings oil it soils the others.
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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?
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The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair.
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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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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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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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Each of my books is different. Deliberately. I wanted to create my society, my people, in their fullness.
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A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.
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Charity is the opium of the privileged.
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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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What a country needs to do is be fair to all its citizens – whether people are of a different ethnicity or gender.
CHINUA ACHEBE