Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality. Chinua Achebe More Quotes by Chinua Achebe More Quotes From Chinua Achebe 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 thought-provokingmenthinking 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 moonhomemen 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 historianhunterslions 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 thought-provokingwho-i-amneeds 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 mudthought-provokinghumanity 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-upwaterpeople 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 brothercleverfall 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 landresponsibilityair A man of worth never gets up to unsay what he said yesterday. Chinua Achebe thought-provokingyesterdaymen 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 motherhomemen Mosquito [...] had asked Ear to marry him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. "How much longer do you think you will live?" she asked. "You are already a skeleton." Mosquito went away humiliated, and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive. Chinua Achebe skeletonslaughterthinking If you only hear one side of the story, you have no understanding at all. Chinua Achebe understandingstoriessides Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform. Chinua Achebe embracegenerationstasks As long as one people sit on another and are deaf to their cry, so long will understanding and peace elude all of us. Chinua Achebe diversityjusticelong To answer oppression with appropriate resistance requires knowledge of two kinds: in the first place, self-knowledge by the victim, which means awareness that oppression exists, an awareness that the victim has fallen from a great height of glory or promise into the present depths; secondly, the victim must know who the enemy is. He must know his oppressor's real name, not an alias, a pseudonym, or a nom de plume! Chinua Achebe realnamesmean When brothers fight to death a stranger inherit their father’s estate Chinua Achebe fightingbrotherfather One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. Chinua Achebe stupidintegrityreality The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair. Chinua Achebe thought-provokingrealityyears Man is sitting disconsolate on an anthill one morning. God asks him what the matter is and man replies that the soil is too swampy for the cultivation of the yams which God has directed him to grow. God tells him to bring in a blacksmith to dry the soil with his bellows. The contribution of humanity to this creation is so important. God could have made the world perfect if he had wanted. But he made it the way it is. So that there is a constant need for us to discuss and cooperate to make it more habitable, so the soil can yield, you see. Chinua Achebe yieldmorningmen The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place. Chinua Achebe dancingwantworld
