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Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe Quotes

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Famous Chinua Achebe Quotes

“Almost 30 years before Rwanda, before Darfur, more than 2 million people - mothers, children, babies, civilians - lost their lives as a result of the blatantly callous and unnecessary policies enacted by the leaders of the federal government of Nigeria. It's this charge that's dominated the book's Nigerian press, so far as I can see, the accusation, on the one hand, that Awolowo hatched "a diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly through starvation - eliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations.”

PeopleYearsChildrenI CanTwoBookHandsGovernmentMotherLostResultsNumbersLeaderEnemyMillionsGenerationsPolicyBabyMembersPressesUnnecessaryFederal GovernmentFuture GenerationCiviliansStarvationNigeriaAccusationEliminatingRwandaDiabolicalCallousMother ChildDarfur
Author:Chinua Achebe
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“"You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle, who said he should die." "I do not. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision." [...] "The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her mesenger," Okonkwo said. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm."”

IfsShouldChildrenSaidEarthMotherDiesAsksSoundDecisionPiecesAuthorityHotFingersAsk MeShould IPalmsObeyingOraclesThings Fall Apart OkonkwoYamsOkonkwo
Author:Chinua Achebe
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“Art is created to make us, to make our passage through the world better, fruitful - and I would say that every story in the end, if it is good, tells us something. This is actually what I meant when I said a novelist is a teacher. Which is why I am constantly dealing with "didactic". Now a teacher in the sense I use it is not somebody who has the profession of standing in front of children, with a piece of chalk in his hand scribbling on the blackboard. That is not the teacher I have in mind. The teacher I have in mind is something less tangible.”

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Author:Chinua Achebe
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“The world is large,” said Okonkwo. “I have even heard that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and her family.” “That cannot be,” said Machi. “You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the babies.”

MenWorldWellsChildrenSaidMightLyingWifeHeardBabyTribesThings Fall Apart OkonkwoWomen LieOkonkwo
Book:Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism
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“What I can say is that it was clear to many of us that an indigenous African literary renaissance was overdue. A major objective was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories- prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That was my overall goal.”

ChildrenI CanBookStoriesGoalChallengesClearMajorsOur ChildrenMythObjectivesProseContinentsStereotypeEssaysIndigenousRenaissanceOverdueProse Poetry
Book:There Was a Country: A Memoir
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“We shall all live. We pray for life, children, a good harvest and happiness. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. Let the kite perch and let the egret perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.”

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Book:Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism
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