Chinua Achebe Quotes

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.

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.

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.

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.

There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

When there is a big tree small ones climb on its back to reach the sun.

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.'

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.

It is praiseworthy to be brave and fearless, but sometimes it is better to be a coward. We often stand in the compound of a coward to point at the ruins where a brave man used to live.

A man of worth never gets up to unsay what he said yesterday.

If you only hear one side of the story, you have no understanding at all.

When a mad man walks naked, it is his kinsmen who feel shame, not himself.

There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.

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.

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.

Do not be in a hurry to rush into the pleasures of the world like the young antelope who danced herself lame when the main dance was yet to come.

One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.

Those whose kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.

Whatever music you beat on your drum there is somebody who can dance to it.

A coward may cover the ground with his words but when the time comes to fight he runs away.

I believe in the complexity of the human story, and that there's no way you can tell that story in one way and say, 'this is it.' Always there will be someone who can tell it differently depending on where they are standing ... this is the way I think the world's stories should be told: from many different perspectives.

A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself.

A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness

When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight.

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