Kala

“What a beautiful name,” Kimberly said. “Does it mean anything? I love multicultural names because they have such wonderful meanings, from wonderful rich cultures.” Kimberly was smiling the kindly smile of people who thought “culture” the unfamiliar colorful reserve of colorful people, a word that always had to be qualified with “rich.” She would not think Norway had a “rich culture.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“We are very ideological about fiction in this country. If a character is not familiar, then that character becomes unbelievable.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed.”
― Bertrand Russell, Human Society in Ethics and Politics

“To be a child of the Third World is to be aware of the many different constituencies you have and how honesty and truth must always depend on context.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah