Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebewas a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apartwas considered his magnum opus, and is the most widely read book in modern African literature...
NationalityNigerian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth16 November 1930
CityOgidi, Nigeria
CountryNigeria
lions hunters historian
There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.
who-i-am thought-provoking needs
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.
humanity mud practicals
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.'
responsibility air land
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.
stories abomination things-fall-apart-important
There is no story that is not true.
two friendly may
A goat does not eat into a hen's stomach no matter how friendly the two may be.
art humanity purpose
My position is that serious and good art has always existed to help, to serve, humanity. Not to indict. I don’t see how art can be called art if its purpose is to frustrate humanity. To make humanity uncomfortable, yes. But intrinsically to be against humanity, that I don’t take.
reality years thought-provoking
The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair.
heart reality diversity
Diversity is not an abnormality but the very reality of our planet. The human world manifests the same reality and will not seek our permission to celebrate itself in the magnificence of its endless varieties. Civility is a sensible attribute in this kind of world we have; narrowness of heart and mind is not.
laughter thinking skeletons
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.
fighting men coward
When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight.
shine-on shining sun
The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.
stupid men angry-man
An angry man is always a stupid man.
baby children lying
The world is large,” said Okonkwo. “I have even heard that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and her family.” “That cannot be,” said Machi. “You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the babies.