Things Fall Apart Quotes With Page Numbers. Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, is Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe’s first novel. Simultaneously portraying the traditions and beliefs of Nigerian Ibo culture and engaging with the narrative of European colonialism in Africa, Things Fall Apart uses one man’s story to speak for many.
Achebe’s plot centers on Okonkwo, a passionate man focused on reaching the apex of masculine virtue in his home village, Umuofia. As a child, Okonkwo notices his father’s “feminine” and dishonorable behaviors: Unoka is lazy, pleasure-seeking, and debt-ridden. As a young man, Okonkwo seeks to “[wash] his hands” of his father’s legacy through intense hard labor. He wins glorious wrestling victories, leads his village to war, and builds a thriving farm. Quickly, he is on track to earn titles within the community, markers of power and influence.
 |
| Things Fall Apart Quotes |
Things Fall Apart Quotes
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “There is no story that is not true.”
- “If you don't like my story,write your own”.
- “When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk”
- “Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.”
- “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.”
- “The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.”
- “Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.”
You may also like to read: Things Fall Apart Book Summary
Things Fall Apart Quotes With Page Numbers
- “He who brings kola brings life.” Page 6.
- “Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” Page 7.
- “Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.” Pages 7, 8.
- “Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.” Page 8.
- “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.” Page 8.
- “A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.” Page 9.
- “When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk” Page 10.
- “When a man is at peace with his gods and ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm.” Page 17.
- “As our fathers said, you can tell a ripe corn by its look.” Page 22.
- “Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.” Page 22.
- “It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.” Page 24.
- “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 prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.” Page 25.
- “Looking at a king’s mouth, ‘ said an old man, ‘one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast.” Page 26.
- “But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also.” Page 27.
- “To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.” Page 28.
- “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.” Page 53.
- “How can a man who has killed five men in a battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their family number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.” Page 65.
- “When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth” Pages 70, 71.
- “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.” Page 97.
- “When the moon rose late in the night, people said it was refusing food, as a sullen husband refuses his wife’s food when they have quarrelled.” Page 105.
- “There is no story that is not true.” Page 141.
- “The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.” Page 141.
- “He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days..” Page 153.
- “And immediately Okonkwo’s eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly. Living fire begets cold, impotent ash. He sighed again, deeply.” Page 153.
- “When a man blasphemes, what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing. This is a wise action.” Page 158.
- “A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.” Page 166.
- “He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” Page 176.
- “There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.” Page 185.
You may also like to read