In Nigeria, there is energy, whether it is Lagos, which is sheer anarchy, but it is not lethargic. It is strong, even aggressive and if that energy could be directed to work it will produce really enormous results. Chinua Achebe More Quotes by Chinua Achebe More Quotes From Chinua Achebe There are things the story must have or else look incomplete. And these will almost automatically present themselves. When they don't, you are in trouble and then the novel stops. Chinua Achebe trouble stories looks If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. But you were rich. If you had been a coward, I would have asked you to bring courage. But you were a fearless warrior. If you had died young, I would have asked you to get life. But you lived long. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. Chinua Achebe fearless warrior long Nigeria has had a complicated colonial history. My work has examined that part of our story extensively. Chinua Achebe nigeria-independence complicated stories Whenever I try to do anything on a typewriter, it's like having this machine between me and the words; what comes out is not quite what would come out if I were scribbling. Chinua Achebe machines typewriters trying When Rimbaud became a slave trader, he stopped writing poetry. Chinua Achebe traders slave writing When I'm writing, I really want to satisfy myself. I've got a story that I am working on and struggling with, and I want to tell it the most effective way I can. That's really what I struggle with. And the thought of who may be reading it may be there somewhere in the back of my mind - I'll never say it's not there because I don't know - but it's not really what I'm thinking about. Chinua Achebe reading struggle writing Poetry and slave trading cannot be bedfellows. That's where I stand. Chinua Achebe bedfellows trading slave There must be areas in which a particular character does not represent you. Chinua Achebe particular doe character That we are surrounded by deep mysteries is known to all but the incurably ignorant. Chinua Achebe ignorant known mystery Children are young, but they're not naive. And they're honest. They're not going to keep wide awake if the story is boring. When they get excited you can see it in their eyes. Chinua Achebe eye justice children What you must accept is that your life is not going to be the same while you are writing. Chinua Achebe accepting life-is writing I have found that I work best when I am at home in Nigeria. But one learns to work in other places. Chinua Achebe nigeria found home I am not an early-morning person; I don't like to get out of bed, and so I don't begin writing at five A.M., though some people, I hear, do. I write once my day has started. And I can work late into the night, also. Chinua Achebe writing morning night Unless I'm writing in the Igbo language, I use a language developed elsewhere, which is English. That affects the way I write. It even affects to some extent the stories I write. Chinua Achebe use stories writing Art should be on the side of humanity. Chinua Achebe humanity sides art Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world. Chinua Achebe perspective voice writing I'm very primitive; I write with a pen. Chinua Achebe primitive pens writing If you ask me, Now, is it your best book? I would say, I don't really know. I wouldn't even want to say. And I'd even go on and say, I don't even think so. Chinua Achebe goes-on book thinking Some people flinch when you talk about art in the context of the needs of society thinking you are introducing something far too common for a discussion of art. Why should art have a purpose and a use? Art shouldn't be concerned with purpose and reason and need, they say. These are improper. But from the very beginning, it seems to me, stories have indeed been meant to be enjoyed, to appeal to that part of us which enjoys good form and good shape and good sound. Chinua Achebe people art thinking In my definition I am a protest writer, with restraint. Chinua Achebe restraint protest definitions
