410 Quotes by Chinua Achebe

I prefer to go on trying all kinds of things, not to be told, This is the way it is done.

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.

Just think of the work you've set yourself to do, and do it as well as you can.

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.'

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.

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

There is something about important stories that is not just the message, but also the way that message is conveyed, the arrangement of the words, the felicity of the language. So it's really a balance between your commitment, whether it's political or economic or whatever, and your craft as an artist.

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.

I wouldn't have wanted anyone to teach me how to write. That's my own taste. I prefer to stumble on it.