The man that brings ant-infested faggots into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit.
CHINUA ACHEBEOnly 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.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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The lizard that jumped from a high Iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no-one else did.
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Art is man’s constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him.
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An angry man is always a stupid man.
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A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.
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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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Every lizard lies on its belly, so we cannot tell which has a belly-ache
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When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate.
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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.
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When a man is at peace with his gods and ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm.
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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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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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We do not seek to hurt any man, but if any man seeks to hurt us may he break his neck.
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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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Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.
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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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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.
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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.
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My weapon is literature.
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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.
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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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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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A goat does not eat into a hen’s stomach no matter how friendly the two may be.
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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 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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The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.
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When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don’t just turn it off one day.
CHINUA ACHEBE