Things Fall Apart Important Quotes

The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.

We have heard stories about white men who make the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but no one thought the stories were true.

When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality. (9)

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

We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.

If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.

There is no story that is not true.

When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something.

The falcon cannot hear the falconer

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.

At the most one could say that his chi or … personal god was good. But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed.

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.

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

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.

Beware Okonkwo!” she warned. “Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!