“… he did not want me to seek the whys, because there are some things that happen for which we can formulate no whys, for which whys simply do not exist and, perhaps, are not necessary.”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie , book Purple Hibiscus

Source: Purple Hibiscus

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "… he did not want me to seek the whys, because there are some things that happen for which we can formulate no whys, fo…" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 97

Nigerian writer 1977

Related quotes

“I challenge you, instead of asking with an attitude of doubt, “If the Universe or God loved me, why would this bad thing have happened or be happening?” ask with an attitude of curiosity “Assuming the Universe or God loves me, why did this thing happen or why is it happening?””

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“Cognitively we don’t know and will never discover what occasions the cause of our existence, we don’t know the purpose of our existence and we don’t know why we have to disappear from here once we have been placed here, I don’t know, why I have to live this fragmentary existence, which happened to be my lot, instead of a life that perhaps does exist somewhere. Why did I get this lot? This sex, this body, this awareness, this geographic setting, this fate, this language, this history, this rented room?”

Imre Kertész book Kaddish for an Unborn Child

Kaddish for a Child Not Born (1990)

“The things which concerned him more than anything else were the what and the why--the what because he felt it was necessary to know absolutely what you were questioning and what you were doing or what concerned you, and then the why, the depth type of thinking which showed you the reason for doing the thing and would perhaps indicate clearly whether you should maintain what was being done or should change what was being done.”

Lillian Gilbreth (1878–1972) American psychologist and industrial engineer

Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1962) Conference and Convention Proceedings American Institute of Industrial Engineers. p. 21.

“I do not know why it distressed me so much to see an animal die when human death did not move me. Perhaps because they were more beautiful, and there is no corruption in them, while in the best of men there can always be found some guilt or wickedness which seems to have earned him death.”

Tanith Lee book The Birthgrave

Book Two, Part IV “War March”, Chapter 3 (p. 246)
The Birthgrave (1975)

“There are of course many problems connected with life, of which some of the most popular are Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?”

Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy pentalogy

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“Why do we need wealth? Security and peace. This is our goal and we passionately seek it because it is the way of life which we are charged by our religion to practise.”

Alec Douglas-Home (1903–1995) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Speech to the Lord Mayor's Banquet at Guildhall (11 November 1963), quoted in The Times (12 November 1963), p. 12
Prime Minister

“In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.”

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin (1881–1955) French philosopher and Jesuit priest

“You can understand why a system would seek information - but why in hell does it offer information? Why do we strive to be understood? Why is a refusal to accept communication so painful?”

James Tiptree, Jr (1915–1987) American science fiction writer

"I'm Too Big But I Love To Play" in Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home (1973)

“Why I do things? Because I get great happiness, and happiness is the thing which makes the love flow, which makes me love. I want to be happy. And that is why I consider myself as one of the most happiest men in the world, because I do these things. I give this Knowledge to people free of charge. And people when they get this Knowledge feel great happiness. That makes me happy, too.”

Prem Rawat (1957) controversial spiritual leader

Montrose, Colorado, July 27, 1972
1970s

“Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israelis and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”

Trent Lott (1941) United States Senator from Mississippi

On Sunnis and Shia, as quoted in CNN http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2006/09/lott-bush-barely-mentioned-iraq-in.html (2006).
2000s

“… he did not want me to seek the whys, because there are some things that happen for which we can formulate no whys, for which whys simply do not exist and, perhaps, are not necessary.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Chi­ma­man­da Ngo­zi Adi­chie 97

Related quotes

Related topics

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 97