Chinua Achebe
10 quotes
“The impatient idealist says: ‘Give me a place to stand and I shall move the earth.’ But such a place does not exist. We all have to stand on the earth itself and go with her at her pace. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“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. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. Moving Quotes from Chinua Achebe”
“For an African writing in English is not without its serious setbacks. He often finds himself describing situations or modes of thought which have no direct equivalent in the English way of life. Caught in that situation he can do one of two things. He can try and contain what he wants to say within the limits of conventional English or he can try to push back those limits to accommodate his ideas … I submit that those who can do the work of extending the frontiers of English so as to accommodate African thought-patterns must do it through their mastery of English and not out of innocence. Quoted by Kalu Ogbaa, Understanding Things Fall Apart (1999), Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-30294-7.”
“The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place. Arrow of God (1988)”