410 Quotes by Chinua Achebe

Every lizard lies on its belly, so we cannot tell which has a belly-ache.

Oh, the most important thing about myself is that my life has been full of changes. Therefore, when I observe the world, I don’t expect to see it just like I was seeing the fellow who lives in the next room. There is this complexity which seems to me to be part of the meaning of existence and everything we value.

Africa never spared those who did what they liked instead of what they had to do.

When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don’t just turn it off one day.

The writer is often faced with two choices – turn away from the reality of life’s intimidating complexity or conquer its mystery by battling with it. The writer who chooses the former soon runs out of energy and produces elegantly tired fiction.

My father used to say that it is the fear of causing offense that makes men swallow poison.

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

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.

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.