Best Things Fall Apart quotes from Chinua Achebe

Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe, alias Chinua Achebe, was a famed Nigerian poet, novelist, critic, and professor. His works, including “Things Fall Apart” of 1958, continue to outlive the fallen father of African literature. Things Fall Apart quotes from his career as a novelist remain a source of knowledge across generations.

Achebe was particularly amused with traditional African stories and world religions. He immersed himself in these subjects and proceeded to write compelling stories during his life as a student. He continued to write moving poems and creative literature materials until he faced his untimely death in 2013 at age 82. There are several quotes and proverbs in Things Fall Apart novel that any literature lover cannot resist.

Moving quotes from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Chinua was an award-winning novelist who mastered the art of African traditions as well as matters of faith. He continues to inspire generations for his dedication and the accuracy proven in his work. Chinua Achebe quotes have stood the test of time.

Read also

The only thing I’m afraid of is poverty: Peter Okoye speaks, says he is not scared of death in viral video

Any single quote from Things Fall Apart confirms that Chinua Achebe was a prolific writer with rib-cracking sentiments. Here are some of the exciting quotations from Things Fall Apart

1. Mosquito had asked Ear to marry him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. "How much longer do you think you will live?" she asked. "You are already a skeleton." Mosquito went away humiliated, and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.”
2. If I hold her hand she says, ‘Don’t touch!’ If I hold her foot she says ‘Don’t touch!’ But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.
3. For whom is it well, for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well.
4. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.
5. Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.
6. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.
7. No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man.
8. There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.
9. Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.
10. A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.

Read also

See person client: Reactions as oyinbo man sings Pasuma's fuji song fluently, speaks Yoruba in video

Thoughtful Chinua Achebe quotes

Things Fall Apart important quotes indeed prove that Chinua was a deep thinker.

1. Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
2. 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.
3. Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.
4. The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.
5. We do not ask for wealth because he that has health and children will also have wealth. We do not pray to have money but to have more kinsmen. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, a man asks his kinsman to scratch him.”
6. Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not pr**k its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.
7. If you don't like my story, write your own
8. 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.
9. When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk
10. Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.
11. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?
12. Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.
13. You do not know me,’ said Tortoise. ‘I am a changed man. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.
14. It’s true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother’s hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme.
15. The air, which had been stretched taut with excitement, relaxed again.

Read also

From grace to grass: Internet sensation Mr Spellz spotted in new video begging at mall, Nigerians ignored him

Things Fall Apart quotes with page numbers

Are you still wondering why Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart? Catch up with these phrases and quotes as you discover some of his primary thoughts with reference.

1. They [the white people] must have used powerful medicines to make themselves invisible until the market was full (page, 139).
2. A man's life was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer to his ancestors (page, 122).
3. Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under the shade (page, 46).
4. He [Okonkwo] had a slight stammer and whenever he got angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists (page, 4).
5. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. And he told them about this new God, the creator of all the world and all the men and women. He told them they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone (page, 145).

Read also

Chiwetalu Agu survives spiritual attack, claims arrows, other mysterious Items were brought out of his chest

Things Fall Apart quotes by Chinua Achebe feature a diverse spectrum of traditions, culture, and modernity. Literature enthusiasts experiencing difficulties studying his book can now use Things Fall Apart Shmoop. It is no doubt that the late Achebe is still a resourceful man in African literature, and his best quotes are a friendlier way to experience his book with broadened perspectives.

Source: Legit.ng