Inspiring quotes by Chinua Achebe

1."The white man is very clever.He came quietly and peaceably with his religion.We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay.Now,he has won our brothers,and our clan can no longer act like one.He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."

2."Nobody can teach me who I am.You can only describe some parts of me,but who I am-and what I am-is something UI have to figure out myself."

3."We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devalueing 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 a mud must stay in the mud to keep him down."

4."A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving.They all have food in their own homes.When we gather together in the moonlit village ground,it is not because of the moon.Every man can see it in his own compound.We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so."

5."Charity...is the opium of the privileged."

6."If you dont like my story,write your own."

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

8."One of the truest tests of integrity is itsblunt refusal to be compromised."

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