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.’
CHINUA ACHEBEPeople 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.
More Chinua Achebe Quotes
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When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.
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You do not know me,’ said Tortoise. ‘I am a changed man. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.
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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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When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight.
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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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When we are comfortable and inattentive, we run the risk of committing grave injustices absentmindedly.
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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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It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have – otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
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A debt may get mouldy, but it never decays.
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Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own.
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No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man.
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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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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.
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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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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