Quotes from book
No Longer at Ease

No Longer at Ease

No Longer at Ease is a 1960 novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is the story of an Igbo man, Obi Okonkwo, who leaves his village for an education in Britain and then a job in the Nigerian colonial civil service, but is conflicted between his African culture and Western lifestyle and ends up taking a bribe. The novel is the second work in what is sometimes referred to as the "African trilogy", following Things Fall Apart and preceding Arrow of God. Things Fall Apart concerns the struggle of Obi Okonkwo's grandfather Okonkwo against the changes brought by the English.


Chinua Achebe photo

“When there is a big tree small ones climb on its back to reach the sun.”

Chinua Achebe book No Longer at Ease

Source: No Longer at Ease (1960), Chapter 10 (p. 95)

Chinua Achebe photo
Chinua Achebe photo
Chinua Achebe photo

“A man who lived on the banks of the Niger should not wash his hands with spittle.”

Chinua Achebe book No Longer at Ease

Source: No Longer at Ease (1960), Chapter 1 (p. 17)

Chinua Achebe photo

“If one finger brings oil it soils the others.”

Chinua Achebe book No Longer at Ease

Source: No Longer at Ease (1960), Chapter 7 (p. 75)

Chinua Achebe photo
Chinua Achebe photo

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