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
There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.
mind littles closed-mind
Travellers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves
despair load
It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.
writing thinking artist
I think an artist, in my definition of that word, would not be someone who takes sides with the emperor against his powerless subjects. That's different from prescribing a way in which a writer should write.
definitions protest restraint
In my definition I am a protest writer, with restraint.
self shoes understanding
The triumph of the written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with the reader, who then becomes ready to be drawn into unfamiliar territory, walking in borrowed literary shoes so to speak, toward a deeper understanding of self or society, or of foreign peoples, cultures, and situations.
should
Women and music should not be dated.
art thinking people
Some people flinch when you talk about art in the context of the needs of society thinking you are introducing something far too common for a discussion of art. Why should art have a purpose and a use? Art shouldn't be concerned with purpose and reason and need, they say. These are improper. But from the very beginning, it seems to me, stories have indeed been meant to be enjoyed, to appeal to that part of us which enjoys good form and good shape and good sound.
okonkwo dry-bones things-fall-apart-important
An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb
men tortoises trouble
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.
mother children pay
A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.
children eye justice
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.
jumping toads daylight
Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life.
feet hands beads
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.