Arrow of God

by Chinua Achebe

‘It is praiseworthy to be brave and fearless, my son, but sometimes it is better to be a coward. We often stand in the compound of a coward to point at the ruins where a brave man used to live. The man who has never submitted to anything will soon submit to the burial mat.’

‘Wisdom is like a goatskin bag; every man carries his own. Knowledge of the land is also like that.

If the lizard of the homestead should neglect to do the things for which its kind is known, it will be mistaken for the lizard of the farmland.

a toad does not run in the day unless something is after it.

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

The French made up their minds about what they wanted to do and did it. The British, on the other hand, never did anything without first sending out a Commission of Inquiry to discover all the facts, which then ham-strung them.

This is a habit that we Kenyans have adopted as well.

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

It would be useful if people are able to state their thoughts without the fear of reprisal. But there are a lot of vested interests in the world we live in so in most instances people would rather swallow the poison than say for example lose their job, not get promoted etc

an adult does not sit and watch while the she-goat suffers the pain of childbirth tied to a post.