# Chinua Achebe - Quotes: 89 - Author page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe ## Books - [A Man of the People](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/a-man-of-the-people.md) — 6 quotes - [An Image of Africa](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/an-image-of-africa.md) — 7 quotes - [Anthills of the Savannah](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/anthills-of-the-savannah.md) — 12 quotes - [Arrow of God](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/arrow-of-god.md) — 8 quotes - [Chike and the River](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/chike-and-the-river.md) — 6 quotes - [Home and Exile](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/home-and-exile.md) — 5 quotes - [No Longer at Ease](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/no-longer-at-ease.md) — 6 quotes - [The Education of a British-Protected Child](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child.md) — 7 quotes - [There Was a Country](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country.md) — 7 quotes - [Things Fall Apart](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/things-fall-apart.md) — 25 quotes ## Recently added quotes > ...when we are comfortable and inattentive, we run the risk of committing grave injustices absentmindedly. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/when-we-are.md) > The point in all this is that language is a handy whipping boy to summon and belabor when we have failed in some serious way. In other words, we play politics with language, and in so doing conceal the reality and the complexity of our situation from ourselves and from those foolish enough to put their trust in us. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/the-point-in-all.md) > There was another epidemic that was not talked about much, a silent scourge—the explosion of mental illness: major depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, manic-depression, personality disorders, grief response, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, etc.—on a scale none of us had ever witnessed. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/there-was-another.md) > Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/every-generation-must.md) > 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. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/some-people-flinch.md) > Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/writing-has-always.md) > There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/there-is-a-moral.md) > I do not see that it is necessary for any people to prove to another that they build cathedrals or pyramids before they can be entitled to peace and safety. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/i-do-not.md) > Paradoxically, a saint like [Albert] Schweitzer can give one a lot more trouble than King Leopold II, villain of unmitigated guilt, because along with doing good and saving African lives Schweitzer also managed to announce that the African was indeed his brother, but only his junior brother. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/paradoxically-a-saint.md) > It is appropriate that we celebrate Martin Luther King, a man who struggled so valiantly to restore humanity to the oppressed and the oppressor. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/it-is-appropriate.md) > Africa is people" may seem too simple and too obvious to some of us. But I have found in the course of my travels through the world that the most simple things can still givwe us a lot of trouble, even the brightest among us: this is particularly so in matters concerning Africa. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/the-education-of-a-british-protected-child/africa-is-people.md) > People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/people-from-different.md)