Quote by Chinua Achebe: “Truth is the beginning of every good thing.”

Nothing genuinely good — in a relationship, an organization, or a society — can be built on lies or evasion. Honesty is not just a virtue; it is the structural foundation on which everything lasting depends. Start there, or don't expect to get far.

This reflects a key philosophical position in Achebe's literary project, which was rooted in the idea that African literature must reclaim honest self-representation as its first task. Things Fall Apart was his foundational attempt to tell the truth about Igbo civilization on its own terms rather than through a colonial lens.

Nigerian novelist and critic widely regarded as the father of modern African literature. His 1958 novel Things Fall Apart is one of the most widely read works of African fiction, translated into over fifty languages. He taught for decades at Bard College in the United States.