Things Fall Apart Quotes

“Okonkwo was ruled by one passion -- to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“We shall 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 eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“Living fire begets cold, impotent ash”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s”
― SparkNotes, Things Fall Apart

“…he that has health and children will also have wealth”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“إن النار الحية تنجب رمادا عاجزا باردا”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

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Tant que les lions n'auront pas leurs propres historiens, l'histoire de la chasse glorifiera toujours le chasseur”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart

“Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son. He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or chi. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son’s behavior? Now that he had time to think of it, his son’s crime stood out in its stark enormity. To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye’s steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation.”
― Chinua Achebe, Spark Notes Things Fall Apart