Chinua Achebe Quotes

Quotes about:

• A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.

  Chinua Achebe

  Home, Moon, Men

  Chinua Achebe (1996). “Things Fall Apart”, p.118, Heinemann

  239 Copy quote

• 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.

  Chinua Achebe

  Rising Up, People, Water

  271 Copy quote

• In dealing with a man who thinks you are a fool, it is good sometimes to remind him that you know what he knows but have chosen to appear foolish for the sake of peace.

  Chinua Achebe

  Men, Thinking, Thought Provoking

  Chinua Achebe (1986). “Arrow of God”, p.86, Heinemann

  397 Copy quote

• 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

  Who I Am, Thought Provoking, Needs

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Feb 17, 2012

  336 Copy quote

• 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

  Lions, Hunters, Historian

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Dec 29, 2013

  372 Copy quote

• 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 Achebe

  Thought Provoking, Humanity, Mud

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Jul 28, 2012

  335 Copy quote

• 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

  Mother, Home, Men

  216 Copy quote

• It is praiseworthy to be brave and fearless, but sometimes it is better to be a coward. We often stand in the compound of a coward to point at the ruins where a brave man used to live.

  Chinua Achebe

  Men, Thought Provoking, Brave

  Chinua Achebe (1986). “Arrow of God”, p.11, Heinemann

  15 Copy quote

• A man of worth never gets up to unsay what he said yesterday.

  Chinua Achebe

  Men, Yesterday, Thought Provoking

  Chinua Achebe (1988). “A Man of the People”, p.135, Heinemann

  75 Copy quote

• If you only hear one side of the story, you have no understanding at all.

  Chinua Achebe

  Understanding, Sides, Stories

  137 Copy quote

• When a mad man walks naked, it is his kinsmen who feel shame, not himself.

  Chinua Achebe

  Men, Mad, Naked

  Chinua Achebe (1988). “A Man of the People”, p.118, Heinemann

  61 Copy quote

• The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.

  Chinua Achebe

  Brother, Clever, Fall

  Chinua Achebe (2009). “Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism”, W W Norton & Company Incorporated

  282 Copy quote

• When there is a big tree small ones climb on its back to reach the sun.

  Chinua Achebe

  Tree, Sun, Bigs

  Chinua Achebe (2011). “No Longer at Ease”, p.99, Anchor

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  World, Lame, Pleasure

  Chinua Achebe (2011). “No Longer at Ease”, p.16, Anchor

  22 Copy quote

• The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.

  Chinua Achebe

  Responsibility, Air, Land

  Chinua Achebe (1984). “The Trouble with Nigeria”, p.1, Heinemann

  270 Copy quote

• There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.

  Chinua Achebe

  Chinua Achebe (1996). “Things Fall Apart”, p.99, Heinemann

  7 Copy quote

• One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.

  Chinua Achebe

  Integrity, Stupid, Reality

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Aug 19, 2011

  125 Copy quote

• I believe in the complexity of the human story, and that there's no way you can tell that story in one way and say, 'this is it.' Always there will be someone who can tell it differently depending on where they are standing ... this is the way I think the world's stories should be told: from many different perspectives.

  Chinua Achebe

  Believe, Thinking, Perspective

  45 Copy quote

• When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight.

  Chinua Achebe

  Fighting, Men, Coward

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Apr 09, 2016

  46 Copy quote

• Whatever music you beat on your drum there is somebody who can dance to it.

  Chinua Achebe

  Dance, Beats

  Chinua Achebe (1986). “Arrow of God”, p.46, Heinemann

  37 Copy quote

• A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness

  Chinua Achebe

  Greatness, Men, Pay

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Sep 10, 2015

  107 Copy quote

• If you don't like someone's story, write your own.

  Chinua Achebe

  Writing, Thought Provoking, Stories

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Dec 26, 2010

  26 Copy quote

• Those whose kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.

  Chinua Achebe

  Humble, Spirit, Forget

  5 Copy quote

• When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate

  Chinua Achebe

  Brother, Father, Fighting

  163 Copy quote

• The lizard that jumped from a high Iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no-one else did.

  Chinua Achebe

  Tree, Lizards, Praise

  FaceBook post by Chinua Achebe from Nov 08, 2014

  20 Copy quote

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