How was it possible to miss something you no longer wanted?

—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Americanah

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About Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian author who is regarded as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature. She is the author of the award-winning novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). Her other works include the book...

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I often make the mistake of thinking that something that is obvious to me is just as obvious to everyone else.

—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in We Should All Be Feminists

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We spend too much time teaching girls to worry about what boys think of them. But the reverse is not the case. We don't teach boys to care about being likable. We spend too much time telling girls that they cannot be angry or aggressive or tough, which is bad enough, but then we turn around and either praise or excuse men for the same reasons.

—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in We Should All Be Feminists

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A woman at a certain age who is unmarried, our society teaches her to see it as a deep personal failure. And a man, after a certain age isn't married, we just think he hasn't come around to making his pick.