Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

70 Powerful Chinua Achebe Quotes

Famous As: Nigerian novelist
Born On: November 16, 1930
Died On: March 21, 2013
Born In: Ogidi, Nigeria Protectorate
Died At Age: 82
Chinua Achebe was an eminent Nigerian poet, critic, professor and novelist. He shot to fame with his first novel titled, ‘Things Fall Apart’, which is still widely read and is the most sought after book in modern African literature. In 2007, he won the ‘Man Booker International Prize’. He was an excellent student and earned a scholarship to study medicine, but he swapped medicine with English literature at the university. Some of his well-known works include, ‘A Man of The People’, ‘No Longer At Ease’, ‘Anthills Of The Savannah’ and ‘Arrow Of God’. We have compiled some well-known and quotable quotes and sayings by one of Africa’s foremost novelists which he expressed through his writings, poetry, novels, books, thoughts, lectures, essays, short-stories, folk stories and life. Read through the collection of thoughts and quotations by Chinua Achebe that will give you a glimpse of Igbo society, clash of western and traditional African values and the effect of Christian influences.
Listed In:
If you don't like someone's story, write your own.

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

Chinua Achebe
The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.

The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.

Chinua Achebe
While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.

While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.

Chinua Achebe
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.

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.

Chinua Achebe
There is no story that is not true, [...] The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.

There is no story that is not true, [...] The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.

Chinua Achebe
To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.

To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.

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

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

Chinua Achebe
Charity . . . is the opium of the privileged.

Charity . . . is the opium of the privileged.

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.

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.

Chinua Achebe
My weapon is literature

My weapon is literature

Chinua Achebe
If I hold her hand she says, ‘Don’t touch!’
If I hold her foot she says ‘Don’t touch!’ 
But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.

If I hold her hand she says, ‘Don’t touch!’ If I hold her foot she says ‘Don’t touch!’ But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.

Chinua Achebe
There is no story that is not true.

There is no story that is not true.

Chinua Achebe
When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk

When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk

Chinua Achebe
If you don't like my story,write your own

If you don't like my story,write your own

Chinua Achebe
Nobody can teach me who I am.

Nobody can teach me who I am.

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.

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.

Chinua Achebe
People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.

People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.

Chinua Achebe
...when we are comfortable and inattentive, we run the risk of committing grave injustices absentmindedly.

...when we are comfortable and inattentive, we run the risk of committing grave injustices absentmindedly.

Chinua Achebe
Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.

Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.

Chinua Achebe
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!

Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!

Chinua Achebe
When Suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat left for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

When Suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat left for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

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.

Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.

Chinua Achebe
It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.

It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.

Chinua Achebe
Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Chinua Achebe
It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.

It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.

Chinua Achebe
A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.

A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.

Chinua Achebe
The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.

The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.

Chinua Achebe
It is the story that owns and directs us. It is the thing that makes us different from cattle; it is the mark on the face that sets one people apart from their neighbors.

It is the story that owns and directs us. It is the thing that makes us different from cattle; it is the mark on the face that sets one people apart from their neighbors.

Chinua Achebe
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.

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.

Chinua Achebe
You do not know me,’ said Tortoise. ‘I am a changed man. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.

You do not know me,’ said Tortoise. ‘I am a changed man. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.

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

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

Chinua Achebe
There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.

There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.

Chinua Achebe
...Nothing puzzles God

...Nothing puzzles God

Chinua Achebe
Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.

Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.

Chinua Achebe
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.

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

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

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

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

Chinua Achebe
For whom is it well, for whom is it well?
There is no one for whom it is well.

For whom is it well, for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well.

Chinua Achebe
A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing

A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing

Chinua Achebe
Procrastination is a lazy man's apology.

Procrastination is a lazy man's apology.

Chinua Achebe
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.

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
Women and music should not be dated.

Women and music should not be dated.

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

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

Chinua Achebe
That we are surrounded by deep mysteries is known to all but the incurably ignorant.

That we are surrounded by deep mysteries is known to all but the incurably ignorant.

Chinua Achebe
When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth

When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth

Chinua Achebe
An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb

An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb

Chinua Achebe
There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.

There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.

Chinua Achebe
In my definition I am a protest writer, with restraint.

In my definition I am a protest writer, with restraint.

Chinua Achebe
When a man is at peace with his gods and ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm.

When a man is at peace with his gods and ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm.

Chinua Achebe
He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days..

He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days..

Chinua Achebe
As our fathers said, you can tell a ripe corn by its look.

As our fathers said, you can tell a ripe corn by its look.

Chinua Achebe
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.

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.

Chinua Achebe
A child cannot pay for its mother's milk

A child cannot pay for its mother's milk

Chinua Achebe
The clock is ticking

The clock is ticking

Chinua Achebe
The fly that no one to advise it follows the corpse into the grave.

The fly that no one to advise it follows the corpse into the grave.

Chinua Achebe
The air, which had been stretched taut with excitement, relaxed again.

The air, which had been stretched taut with excitement, relaxed again.

Chinua Achebe
He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.

He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.

Chinua Achebe
...stories are not always innocent;...they can be used to put you in the wrong crowd, in the party of the man who has come to dispossess you.

...stories are not always innocent;...they can be used to put you in the wrong crowd, in the party of the man who has come to dispossess you.

Chinua Achebe
And theories are no more than fictions which help us to make sense of experience and which are subject to disconfirmation when their explanations are no longer adequate.

And theories are no more than fictions which help us to make sense of experience and which are subject to disconfirmation when their explanations are no longer adequate.

Chinua Achebe
The sun will shine on those who stand, before it shines on those who kneel under them.

The sun will shine on those who stand, before it shines on those who kneel under them.

Chinua Achebe
I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots.

I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots.

Chinua Achebe
Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten

Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten

Chinua Achebe
Onye nkuzi ewelu itali piagbusie umuaka. One of the ways an emphasis is laid in Ibo is by exaggeration, so that the teacher in the refrain might not actually have flogged the children to death.

Onye nkuzi ewelu itali piagbusie umuaka. One of the ways an emphasis is laid in Ibo is by exaggeration, so that the teacher in the refrain might not actually have flogged the children to death.

Chinua Achebe
He who brings kola brings life.

He who brings kola brings life.

Chinua Achebe
I do not know how to thank you.'
'I can tell you,' said Obierika. 'Kill one of your sons for me.'
'That will not be enough,' said Okonkwo.
'Then kill yourself,' said Obierika.

I do not know how to thank you.' 'I can tell you,' said Obierika. 'Kill one of your sons for me.' 'That will not be enough,' said Okonkwo. 'Then kill yourself,' said Obierika.

Chinua Achebe
To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.

To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.

Chinua Achebe
Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.

Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.

Chinua Achebe
Villages that their leaders came together to save themselves.

Villages that their leaders came together to save themselves.

Chinua Achebe
Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own.

Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own.

Chinua Achebe
At the end of the thirty-month war Biafra was a vast smoldering rubble. The head count at the end of the war was perhaps three million dead, which was approximately 20 percent of the entire population.

At the end of the thirty-month war Biafra was a vast smoldering rubble. The head count at the end of the war was perhaps three million dead, which was approximately 20 percent of the entire population.

Chinua Achebe