Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate that the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself.

People go to Africa and confirm what they already have in their heads and so they fail to see what is there in front of them.

In dealing with a man who thinks you are a fool, it is good sometimes to remind him that you know what he knows but have chosen to appear foolish for the sake of peace.

I think back to the old people I knew when I was growing up, and they always seemed larger than life.

I think writers are not only writers, they are also citizens.

Art is man's constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him.

Those whose kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.