There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless. Chinua Achebe More Quotes by Chinua Achebe More Quotes From Chinua Achebe Those whose kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble. Chinua Achebe spirithumbleforget I think once you have done all you can to a manuscript, let it find its way in the world. Chinua Achebe doneworldthinking Colonial rule means that power, initiative is taken away from you by somebody else who makes your decisions. If that goes on long enough, beyond one generation, then the habit of self-rule is forgotten. People are no longer able to realize what it means. To be dependant for a hundred years! And suddenly when this thing ends there is nobody who actually knows how to set about running the country. Chinua Achebe takenrunningcountry Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate that the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. Chinua Achebe okonkwoheartmen My parents were early converts to Christianity in my part of Nigeria. They were not just converts; my father was an evangelist, a religious teacher. He and my mother traveled for thirty-five years to different parts of Igboland, spreading the gospel. Chinua Achebe religiousmotherteacher A good leader for instance is somebody like Nelson Mandela. I do not have seen such people coming every generation, maybe every ten generations, every hundred generations. People who are miracle workers. Chinua Achebe miracleleaderpeople I'm sure if one turned one's mind back from grandiose faults to what is happening to the average man or woman or child in the rural areas, we will probably find that's where the energy for development is. Chinua Achebe averagemenchildren After a war life catches desperately at passing hints of normalcy like vines entwining a hollow twig. Chinua Achebe vineshintswar 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 anarchystrongenergy People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience. Chinua Achebe differentstoriespeople The Novelist As Teacher”: “I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past – with all its imperfections – was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them. Chinua Achebe teachernightpast I was a supporter of the desire, in my section of Nigeria, to leave the federation because it was treated very badly with something that was called genocide in those days. Chinua Achebe treatedgenocidedesire I find Nigeria very frustrating. I am not alone in this. There are many Nigerians abroad. As you know, the brain drain is just incredible. And when we talk to one another and there is a certain sense of frustration and but I struggle not to let the frustration degenerate into dispair. Chinua Achebe frustrationstrugglebrain If the economy of a country collapses completely and the hospitals are no longer able to function as hospitals, it will be very difficult to tell every doctor to stay home to work without drugs, to work without equipment. You might tell some to stay but there a lot of young people who are at the beginning of their careers who would be very difficult to persuade. Chinua Achebe doctorshomecountry At the most one could say that his chi or ... personal god was good. But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed. Chinua Achebe okonkwomenpeople There's no lack of writers writing novels in America, about America. Therefore, it seems to me it would be wasteful for me to add to that huge number of people writing here when there are so few people writing about somewhere else. Chinua Achebe somewhere-elsewritingnumbers I know that an important message is not a novel. To say that we should all be kind to our neighbors is an important statement; it's not a novel. Chinua Achebe be-kindimportantmessages They have not always elected the best leaders, particularly after a long period in which they have not used this facility of free election. You tend to lose the habit. Chinua Achebe electionleaderlong She pouted her lips like a gun in my face. Chinua Achebe lipsgunfaces This is not pessimism but rather casting a cold eye on things. It is only one man's story, and I think that things will go better, but difficulties exist and nothing is served by hiding them under a poetic veil or under a lyricism of the past. I am against slogans. Chinua Achebe eyemenpast
