Things Fall Apart

"That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog..."

The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, "My father, they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down.

It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.

an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.

The nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan. Evil Forest represented the village of Umueru, or the children of Eru, who was the eldest of the nine sons.

"We cannot leave the matter in his hands because he does not understand our customs, just as we do not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his. Let him go away."

His life had been ruled by a great passion--to become one of the lords of the clan. That had been his life-spring. And he had all but achieved it.

'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth.'

"When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk."

Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.