People go to Africa and confirm what they already have in their heads and so they fail to see what is there in front of them. This is what people have come to expect. Its not viewed as a serious continent. Its a place of strange, bizarre and illogical things, where people dont do what common sense demands.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness and the need to see beyond preconceived notions when exploring different cultures.
Chinua Achebe's quote critiques the tendency of people to impose their biases and stereotypes onto Africa, preventing them from truly understanding the continent and its complexities. It highlights how preconceived ideas can cloud perception, leading to a narrow understanding of a diverse and rich culture, which often goes unappreciated. Instead of engaging with the reality of Africa, many travelers confirm their biases, which diminishes the potential for genuine knowledge and appreciation of the continent's true nature.
In practice
In a presentation about cultural sensitivity, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of being open-minded when exploring new societies.
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.
The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.
The American War of Independence is the expulsion of the intrusive elements, alien to the American essence. If American reality is the reinvention of itself, whatever is found in any way irreducible or unassimilable is not American.
I don't think exactly like a professional economist. I think about economics and economic ideas, but somewhat like an outsider.
The market economy is deeply congruent with the values set out in the Hebrew Bible. Material prosperity is a divine blessing. Poverty crushes the spirit as well as the body, and its alleviation is a sacred task. Work is a noble calling.
I love all waste _x000D_ And solitary places; where we taste _x000D_ The pleasure of believing what we see _x000D_ Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be.
Lord of Lords, grant us the good whether we pray for it or not, but evil keep from us, even though we pray for it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.