Chinua Achebe Quotes

1930–2013 Nigeria

Chinua Achebe (November 16, 1930 – March 21, 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic. His first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

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Also known as: An Image of Africa, Anthills of the savannah, Arrow of God, Beware Soul Brother, Girls at war and other stories, Home and Exile

Random Chinua Achebe quote

93 quotes

Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012)

It always surprised him, he went on to say, because he never had thought of Africa as having that kind of stuff, you know.

An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1975)

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.

Things Fall Apart (1958)

As the saying goes, the unexamined life is not worth-living.

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

It is appropriate that we celebrate Martin Luther King, a man who struggled so valiantly to restore humanity to the oppressed and the oppressor.

The Education of a British-Protected Child (2009)

War is war. The strong will always crush the weak. The only difference is that in the process some have made a lot of money and others a lot of misery.

Girls at War and Other Stories (1973)

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.

Things Fall Apart (1958)

Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.

I wouldn't put myself under the democratic dictatorship even of angels and archangels.

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

Don't disparage the day that still has an hour of light in its hand.

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, called the converts the excrement of the clan, and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up.

Things Fall Apart (1958)

In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine who he married.

Marriage Is a Private Affair (1952)

What art tries to do is domesticate whatever is around and press it into the service of man. Morality is basic to the nature of art.

Conversation with James Baldwin (1981)

That we may accept a limitation on our actions but never, under no circumstances, must we accept restriction on our thinking.

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

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

In his mind, he could see the ravages of war: destruction, suffering, hunger, and the grotesque faces of men turned beasts by the bitterness of combat.

Girls at War and Other Stories (1973)

The guilty suffers; the sufferer is guilty. As for the righteous, those whose arms are straight, they will always prosper!

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

After the incident of the leopard skin Chike lost some of his eagerness for crossing the Niger. He did not see how he could obtain one shilling without stealing or begging.

Chike and the River (1966)

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. And not only his chi but his clan too, because it judged a man by the work of his hands.

Things Fall Apart (1958)

In his joy, he said again, ‘Thank you, sir.’ The man did not reply; he was talking to his friend again, with a cigarette in his mouth.

Chike and the River (1966)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Chinua Achebe (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.