Chinua Achebe Quotes

A kinsman in trouble had to be saved, not blamed; anger against a brother was felt in the flesh, not in the bone.

I do not actually see how art, literature can be anything other that being in that domain of trying to tell us, trying to get us to see what is important in our lives.

If I write novels in a country in which most citizens are illiterate, who then is my community?

Real tragedy is never resolved. It goes on hopelessly for ever.

Children are young, but they're not naive. And they're honest. They're not going to keep wide awake if the story is boring. When they get excited you can see it in their eyes.

When a new saying gets to the land of empty men, they lose their heads over it.

A chief does not hurry.

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

I think dialects should be left alone. People should write in whatever dialect they feel they want to write. In the fullness of time, these dialects will sort themselves out.

Whenever I try to do anything on a typewriter, it's like having this machine between me and the words; what comes out is not quite what would come out if I were scribbling.

I'm very primitive; I write with a pen.

The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of reeducation and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march right in front.

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

I've had trouble now and again in Nigeria because I have spoken up about the mistreatment of factions in the country because of difference in religion. These are things we should put behind us.

Presidents do not go off on leave without telling the country.

He who fights for a ne'er-do-well has nothing to show for it except a head covered in earth and grime.

I think writers are not only writers, they are also citizens.

What you must accept is that your life is not going to be the same while you are writing.

It is not quite true to say that I am not an advocate of writing in African languages. What I think is, one has to think about what is practicable.

Children are very fair minded, they really are.

I was a supporter of the desire, in my section of Nigeria, to leave the federation because it was treated very badly with something that was called genocide in those days.

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

This is why I find racism impossible, because this is against humanity.

Poetry and slave trading cannot be bedfellows. That's where I stand.

Art should be on the side of humanity.

I don't praise my people. I am their greatest critic.

When we hear a house has fallen do we ask if the ceiling fell with it?

If you ask me, Now, is it your best book? I would say, I don't really know. I wouldn't even want to say. And I'd even go on and say, I don't even think so.

I'm amazed when I think about students today. They know from day one what they are going to be. We didn't. We just coasted. We just knew that things would work out.

I know that an important message is not a novel. To say that we should all be kind to our neighbors is an important statement; it's not a novel.

When I was in England, I had seen advertisements about typing agencies; I had learned that if you really want to make a good impression, you should have your manuscript well typed.

The emperor would prefer the poet to keep away from politics, the emperor's domain, so that he can manage things the way he likes.

After a war life catches desperately at passing hints of normalcy like vines entwining a hollow twig.

[Would] a sensible man spit out the juicy morsel that good fortune put in his mouth?

A budding writer wants to be encouraged.

Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane. H. P. LOVECRAFT, attributed, Telling It Like It Is Dancing is very important nowadays. No girl will look at you if you can't dance.

What kind of power was it if it would never be used?

She pouted her lips like a gun in my face.

Let no one be fooled by the fact that we may write in English, for we intend to do unheard of things with it.

In such a regime, I say you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murderer in the chest - without asking to be paid.

In such a regime, I say you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murdered in the chest - without asking to be paid.

A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.

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.

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

A child cannot pay for its mother's milk

I don't care about age very much. I think back to the old people I knew when I was growing up, and they always seemed larger than life.

The relationship with my people, the Nigerian people, is very good. My relationship with the rulers has always been problematic.