That we are surrounded by deep mysteries is known to all but the incurably ignorant.
Interpretation
Life is filled with mysteries that everyone acknowledges, except for those who refuse to see them.
Chinua Achebe's quote emphasizes the idea that life is riddled with profound mysteries and complexities, a truth that is universally acknowledged. However, it also highlights the existence of individuals who are oblivious to these deeper aspects of existence, suggesting a need for awareness and open-mindedness in the face of life's enigmas.
In practice
During a lecture on philosophy, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of seeking understanding.
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to feel that the story that I was told about this religion wasn't perhaps completely whole, that something was left out.
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!
Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.
It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world.
An angry man is always a stupid man.
One cannot prescribe to anyone whether he should follow an ethic of absolute ends or an ethic of responsibility.
There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces, but you cannot convince it.
We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God. Heart, soul, and mind were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment, which is constantly, not periodically, operative (see Matt. 22:37). If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of our souls (see 2 Ne. 32:9).
In one way, I suppose, I have been 'in denial' for some time, knowingly burning the candle at both ends and finding that it often gives a lovely light.
The mask, given time, comes to be the face itself
Where a man's heart is, there is his treasure also.
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