It is from the house of a coward that we point to the ruins of the house of a brave man

If an arrow is pointed at the chest of a defenceless man, that man must do as he is told. To do any different in the face of indefensible danger is folly. The valiant fathers say that it is from the house of a coward that we point to the ruins of the house of a brave man.

C. Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), 136

Time is divine – an entity to whose will man must submit

One of the most striking differences between the way of the great fathers and their children is that the latter have adopted the White Man’s idea about time. The White Man reckoned long ago that time is divine – an entity to whose will man must submit. Following a prescribed tick, one will arrive at a particular place, certain that an event will begin at that set time. They seem to say, ‘Brethren, an arm of divinity is amongst us, and it has set its purpose at twelve forty, so we must submit to its dictates.’ If something happens, the White Man obliges himself to ascribe it to time – ‘On this day, July twentieth, 1985, such-and-such happened.’

C. Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), 40