Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.
CHINUA ACHEBEWhile we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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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.’
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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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We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.
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No man however great is greater than his people.
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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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There is no story that is not true.
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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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Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality.
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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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And 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.
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I am against people reaping where they have not sown. But we have a saying that if you want to eat a toad you should look for a fat and juicy one.
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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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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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Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
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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 language of young men is pull down and destroy; but an old man speaks of conciliation.
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People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.
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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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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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There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.
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The world is large,” said Okonkwo. “I have even heard that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and her family.” “That cannot be,” said Machi. “You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the babies.
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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.
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A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.
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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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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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When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands.
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