List of Best African Proverbs
African proverbs have been passed down through generations, serving as a source of wisdom, guidance, and inspiration for many. Here are some of the best African proverbs that continue to resonate with people around the world:
1. "The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat." - African Proverb
This proverb emphasizes the value of wisdom and learning from the experiences of others. It reminds us to listen, observe, and gain knowledge from those who have gone before us.
2. "When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." - African Proverb
This powerful proverb speaks to the importance of self-awareness, self-reflection, and inner strength. It encourages individuals to cultivate inner peace and resilience as a means of defending against external challenges.
3. "A bird will always use another bird's feathers to feather its own nest." - African Proverb
This proverb serves as a cautionary reminder about the dangers of greed, selfishness, and dishonesty. It highlights the consequences of exploiting others for personal gain.
4. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - African Proverb
This proverb emphasizes the value of collaboration, teamwork, and unity. It underscores the idea that working together towards a common goal can lead to greater and more sustainable achievements.
5. "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth." - African Proverb
This profound proverb underscores the importance of community, belonging, and support. It serves as a reminder of the potentially dire consequences of neglecting or marginalizing individuals within a community.
These are just a few examples of the rich tapestry of wisdom found in African proverbs. They continue to offer valuable insights and lessons that are relevant to people from all walks of life.
Words of Wisdom: The Beauty of African Proverbs
African proverbs are much more than catchy phrases; they’re windows into the rich tapestry of culture and life lessons. These sayings often carry deep meanings and relate to everyday experiences. Let's explore some of these compelling nuggets of wisdom, why they matter, and how they connect us all.
The Essence of African Proverbs
African proverbs encapsulate the values and beliefs passed down through generations. They provide insights into community, family, and nature, all while reflecting the spirit of African life. Imagine sitting around a fire, sharing stories. This is where these proverbs thrive, linking the past to the present.
Why African Proverbs Matter
Understanding these sayings can enhance one’s worldview. They challenge us to think critically about our behaviors and choices. For example, the proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” highlights the importance of teamwork and community. It reminds us that while individual efforts are valuable, collective action often leads to greater success.
Common Themes in African Proverbs
Community and Family
Many African proverbs emphasize the importance of community and family ties. “A single hand cannot clap” conveys the idea that collaboration is essential for success. This reflects strong family values embedded in African societies, reminding us that we’re stronger together.
Nature and the Environment
Nature plays a significant role in many proverbs. “The rain does not fall on one roof alone” serves as a metaphor for life’s challenges and benefits, suggesting that everyone experiences hardships and joys. By acknowledging our shared experiences, we foster empathy and understanding.
Wisdom and Knowledge
Knowledge is highly valued in African culture. “He who learns, teaches” signifies the importance of sharing knowledge within the community. This wisdom encourages continuous learning and the passing down of lessons to younger generations, reinforcing societal values.
How Proverbs Shape Conversations
Integrating proverbs into everyday discussions can deepen conversations and provoke thought. Instead of saying, “You need to work harder,” you might say, “The man who uses force is afraid of reasoning,” urging others to find a more thoughtful approach to their challenges. It transforms a simple statement into a powerful rallying cry for ethical behavior and reflection.
Modern Relevance of African Proverbs
In today’s fast-paced world, African proverbs remind us to slow down and reflect. They resonate with global audiences, transcending cultural boundaries. “Until the lion learns to speak, the hunter will always tell the story” emphasizes the importance of perspective. This makes us consider whose voices are often silenced and the stories we choose to share.
Embracing the Wisdom of the Ages
Every proverb tells a story, weaving together history, culture, and wisdom. They encourage us to reflect on our lives, our actions, and our roles within the community. Why not adopt a proverb into your daily routine? It could spark change in your outlook or conversation.
In conclusion, African proverbs offer rich, thought-provoking insights that resonate across generations. They serve as a guide, inviting everyone to reflect, connect, and grow. Whether you’re sharing them with friends or pondering their significance in solitude, these powerful words remind us of the beauty in understanding our shared humanity.
A man and a goat can be friends but it would be foolishness for the goat to pay the first visit. |
Hope is a good thing and good things never die. |
When your opponents are you're friends there must be problems ahead. |
An open mind only hurts those who fear their own mistakes. |
Chop your own firewood and it will warm you twice. |
A chicken with beautiful plumage does not sit in a corner. |
He who banishes you is the one who shows you the way. |
There is no virgin in a maternity ward. |
One must talk little and listen much. |
He who has got experience can milk a running cow. |
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. |
Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the treetops to rest. |
Happiness is not perfected until it is shared. |
Its better to stumble with your feet than to stumble with your mouth. |
He who is drunk from wine can sober up, he who is drunk from wealth cannot. |
Death is like a dress that, at some point or another, everyone has to wear. |
No one is without knowledge except he who asks no questions. |
Human blood is heavy; he who has shed it cannot run away. |
Being blind doesn't mean one cannot dream or imagine. |
Ears are usually uninvited guests. |
Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. |
How ever big a rat is, it can't threaten a cat. |
A snake's ears only listen to a stick. |
However long the dry season takes a seasonal river will never forget where it used to pass. |
Where rain has ever been trapped before when it rains again it will get trapped once again. |
A boy may cry; but a man as to conceal his pain. |
Life is vanity. |
Life is a teacher. |
Life without battle is life without victory. |
Life is like a mirror if you fawn it, it fawns back and if you smile, it smiles. |
Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards. |
Life is like shopping in a market; when you finish, you go home. |
Life is like a boat you move on when you paddle and stay in the same place if not. |
Life is your ability to breath out every time you breathe in. |
Life is like riding a bicycle; you don't fall off unless you stop pedalling. |
Life is the beginning of death. |
Life is what you make it. |
There are many colourful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns. |
Generally with life you will be betrayed by close relatives. |
The downfall of a man is not the end of his life. |
Give a man a fish and he won't starve for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he won't starve for his entire life. |
He who guards his lips, guards his life. |
When you ask, you become a fool for a little while and when you don't ask you become a fool for the rest of your life. |
Where there is life there is hope. |
It's the tortoise's shell, ugly and hard that protects its life long journey on earth. |
If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far go together. |
I am because we are. |
Listening is the most difficult skill to learn and the most important to have. |
A child who is fearless is going to bring tears to his mother's eyes. |
Keep your friends close but remember to keep your enemies closer. |
A woman who delivers a baby in the market square has nothing to hide. |
Love is like a baby, it needs to be treated tenderly. |
Love is like cough you can't hold it back. |
Love is a painkiller. |
Love begets love. |
Love is like a baby; it needs to be treated tenderly. |
Love is in blood not in talking. |
Love never gets lost it's only kept. |
She is beautiful; she has love, understands; she respects herself and others; everyone likes, loves and honours her; she is a goddess. |
True love means what's mine is yours. |
It's better to fall from a tree and a break your back than to fall in love and break your heart. |
Many hens may be in love with one cock, but none will be jealous of the other. |
It's much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. |
He who is grown up should respect and love others. |
Live patiently in the world; know that those who hate you are more numerous than those who love you. |
It is difficult for two long-nosed lovers to kiss. |
He who loves the vase loves also what is inside. |
Brothers love each other when they are equally rich. |
The grave only calls those death loves. |
If you're a good person even after death your grave is loved. |
When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow. |
He who doesn't feel jealousy is not in love. |
A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. |
What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. |
To be able to love other people you must be able to love yourself. |
To love that one who never loves you is like rain falling in the forest. |
Don't look into the eyes of your lover, or you will see what he has told many women before. |
There is no physician who can cure the disease of love. |
To love someone who does not love you, is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall. |
Who does not love to dance, does not love to sing. |
It is better to be loved than feared. |
Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you. |
The buttocks are like a married couple though there is constant friction between them; they will still love and live together. |
The partridge loves peas, but not those that go into the pot with it. |
To love a king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better. |
A fish and bird may fall in love but the two cannot build a home together. |
Why take away something by force which you can obtain by love. |
Bees sting him who loves honey. |
The path leads towards loved ones not thorns. |
Children are the reward of life. |
A silly daughter teaches her mother how to bear children. |
If you can't hold children in your arms, please hold them in your heart. |
An immoral father-in-law cannot advise his children well. |
Haste and hurry can only bear children with many regrets. |
As you do for your ancestors, your children will do for you. |
Regrets are much like grandchildren; they come much later. |
Success is a ladder which cannot be climbed with hands in your pocket. |
Success in life largely depends on how you handle your failures. |
The two hardest things in life to handle are success and failure. |
The success of a man is through the soles of his feet, that of a woman is from her legs. |
He who wakes up and finds himself a success hasn't been asleep. |
Those who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success. |
The road to success is always under construction. |
You cannot climb a bid of success with your hands tied up. |
The secret of success is to start from scratch. |
Eating tough meat is always harder for a toothless lion. |
An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. |
Those who move are the ones who see the lion's footprints. |
He that fought the lion must surely have the lion's claws in his body. |
When a lion runs and looks back, its not that he is afraid, rather he is trying to see the distance he has covered. |
The bravery of a lion doesn't protect it from the spear of a hunter. |
What is said over the dead lion's body could not be said to him alive. |
Only a patient man can milk a lioness. |
Whoever rides on the lion's back must surely end up in the lion's stomach. |
When a lion cannot find the flesh to feed on, it has no choice but to eat the grass. |
A cat in its castle has a lion's teeth.mothers |
Where the cattle stand together, the lion lies down hungry. |
The cat may look like a lion, but that does not make it a lion. |
Without impalas and hyenas, the lion cannot be the king of the jungle. |
The lion does not turn around when a small dog barks. |
When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. |
Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter. |
No matter how well tamed a lion, it will one day go back to the bush. |
Only a goat that is tired of life invites a lion to dinner. |
A roaring lion kills no game. |
Roaring lions kill no prey. |
Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself. |
The hand that tied the lion knows best how to untie it. |
Until Lions have their own historians tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. |
When the threads unite, they can tie the lion. |
It is not the lamb that should go and ask the lion if it has had dinner. |
The lion may be king of the jungle but he knows, he shouldn't stand in the way of the elephant. |
Dreams are voices of ancestors. |
Silence brings wisdom of the ancestors. |
Don't underestimate the wisdom of ancestors. |
If you hate your ancestors then assume your dead than you will love the hereafter. |
Remember your ancestors because you're not better than them. |
Don't laugh at the nakedness of our ancestors because before their eyes we're all naked for our spirits belong to them. |
Those who never protect the values of their ancestors their soul will never rest peacefully. |
A child doesn't belong to the father or mother; a child belongs to the ancestors. |
To neglect one's ancestors would bring ill-fortune and failure in life. |
If you lie the ancestors will punish you. |
No man can outwit the ancestors. |
Open your ears to the ancestors and you will understand the language of spirits. |
Remember the wisdom of your ancestors in order to become wise. |
A parent should not give up modelling their children because the ancestors too never give up on us. |
It is better to be kind to our neighbors than to cross the world to offer incense to our ancestors. |
You ask for the ancestors' help and then help yourself. |
The ancestors may annoy you but don't make a mistake of annoying them back, they may annoy you forever. |
Blessings of ancestors are greater than those of a living human being. |
Wisdom does not come overnight. |
Wisdom outweighs strength. |
Wisdom is like a baobab tree, no one individual can embrace it. |
| Wisdom is like a good skin bag every man carries his own. |
Old men and women in the village are books of history and wisdom. |
One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. |
Hunt in every jungle, for there is wisdom and good hunting in all of them. |
With much knowledge there is much sorrow, with much wisdom there is much weeping. |
She who grinds millet should have wisdom about rainy clouds and winds. |
If you're filled with pride then you will not have room for wisdom. |
The fool sucks wisdom, as he porter sups, And cobblers grow fine speakers in their cups. |
Knowledge without wisdom is like water without sand. |
If you fill your head with pride you will lack space for wisdom. |
The mind of a fool is like a broken pot it will hold no wisdom. |
It is from listening to old men that you learn wisdom. |
If you observe attentively you will even find wisdom in shadows. |
The mouth of an elderly man is without teeth, but never without words of wisdom. |
If wisdom is measured by the size of the beard then the goat is a philosopher king. |
He who marries a beauty marries trouble. |
A woman's polite devotion is her greatest beauty. |
There is always a winner even in a monkey's beauty contest. |
A woman who pursues a man for sex looses her spiritual beauty. |
Having beauty doesn't mean understanding the perseverance of marriage. |
Despite the beauty of the moon, sun and the stars, the sky also has a threatening thunder and striking lightening. |
The beauty of a woman becomes useless if there is no one to admire it. |
The strong will always rule, it's only a question of the content of the strength. |
A stealing dog strengthens its back. |
Cleverness is better than strength. |
The thrower of stones throws away the strength of his own arm. |
The one who hasn't strength to pound yams pretends to drive away flies from the yams. |
The spirits are the strength and counsel to the living. |
A woman's strength is a multitude of words. |
The strength of the elderly is in the ears and on the lips. |
What we do with pity another would call it strength. |
The strength of the wolf is in the pack, the strength of the pack is in the wolf. |
Man is like palm-wine: when young, sweet but without strength; in old age, strong but harsh. |
The strength of a man can't be determined by is size. |
When you chase a fellow man reserve the strength to switch you back when he recharges and turns. |
A man who does no hard work will never know the value of rest. |
Work is good, as long as you don't forget to live. |
For one to succeed in life, one has to work hard. |
A hammer does not work with iron. |
A word written stays forever than hundred spoken work. |
It is not work that kills, but worry. |
As long as the white man stutters, the interpreters have a lot of work. |
He who cannot rest, cannot work; he who cannot let go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing, cannot go forward. |
It's not the monkey on top that make a tree fall but it's the work and effort of numerous small insects and ants. |
He who starts his work early enough is neither hit by the severe sun heat nor the burning sand. |
Your mind is like a parachute; it only works when it's open. |
The best preparation for tomorrow is to make sure today's work is superbly done. |
If you don't work you shan't eat. |
Those at piece, work for it. |
He who came to work never sleeps. |
You cannot work for food when there is no food for work. |
Morning is the start of a day's work. |
The mouth does not eat if the feet do not walk and the hands work. |
You must judge a man by the work of his hands. |
He who does is work properly has been well advised. |
Money is like the waters of a sailing river it flows away. |
If you want to improve your memory, lend someone money. |
Money can even corrupt the virtuous. |
Money is sharper than a sword. |
He who has people is richer than he who has money. |
It is no disgrace at all to work for money. |
| If it hurts to spend your money, you will go hungry. |
When a blind man is happy he gives money to his child to buy kerosene for his lamp. |
A fool and his money is one big party. |
If money where to be found up in the trees, most people would be married to monkeys. |
What is sweet in a fools mouth will surely finish is money. |
The voices of the ancestors are the voices of the gods. |
What the gods keep for the poor, no man can destroy. |
A good devil is as equal as to a bad god. |
Don't throw away your nets if you catch nothing, you never know what the gods are planning next. |
God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to his heart. |
He that dines with the gods must do so with a very long spoon. |
When a man says yes, his personal god says yes also. |
The plant God favors will grow even without rain. |
He who drinks wine without libation is a traitor to the gods. |
A sin against a brother or sister is an offence against the gods. |
Don't try to get blood from a locust; God didn't put it in there. |
He who does not know is forgiven by God. |
When you lose on the drum-beating if the gods, you lose on the rhythm and pace of life. |
No matter how much you feed a lizard it cannot become a crocodile. |
If you wait for the downfall of the king, god will not make it sound. |
When one is in trouble, one remembers God. |
It is when one holds the sacrificial lamb that he begins to seek the gods. |
Where God boils his yam that is exactly where the devil roasts his fish. |
Let us be glad to those who make us happy for their gods who make our souls happy. |
Praise of the moon the god. |
When you're a stranger in a land, if good comes to it may you have you share and if bad comes let it go to the owners of the land who know what gods should be appeased. |
Even your dog knows the homes of your friends. |
Search for a friend with no faults and you will remain with no friends. |
As soon as you question someone's integrity, it is a reflection of your own. |
The new moon cannot come until the other has gone. |
If the rhythm of the drum beat changes, the dance step must adapt. |
Dreams are related to the past but connected to the future. |
Everything has a pattern and a partner. |
A wind can move the branches of trees but it will never move the head of a man. |
Even a horn can be stopped from fighting and made to sing forever. |
Hooting all right and sleeping all day, doesn't make an owl wise. |
For the sake of the rose the thorn is watered too. |
A bad wound deserves strong medicine. |
If it is not broken don't try to fix it. |
A good day shows itself early in the morning. |
If it's not here and now, who cares about what and when? |
All plants are our brothers and sisters and they talk to us and if we listen we can hear them. |
The madman, who throws a stone into a crowded market, forgets that his own mother could be hit by his madness. |
The miserly man is like a fattened ox: he will give of his fat only when he has been deprived of his life. |
During a storm you seek shelter under a tree and not the clouds. |
If nakedness promises to cloth you then look at its name. |
A baby on its mother's back doesn't know the journey is long. |
If opportunity doesn't knock build a door. |
The mouse says: I dig a hole without a hoe; the snake says: climb a tree without arms. |
If she can't dig or cook send her back to her father. |
Ideas are worth a dime dozen, but people who put them into action are priceless. |
Each trip gives you its own uniqueness. |
If someone is walking towards you, you don't need to tell him "come here." |
If you want to sit under a shade in your old age plant a tree now. |
All war follow a demonstrate failure of difficulty diplomacy. |
If sweetness be excessive, it is no longer sweetness. |
The nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered down. |
Don't water your friend's garden when yours is full of weeds. |
If you what the hyena to eat a person then tie on him goats ears. |
One who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others. |
The one chased away with a stick comes back and the one chassed away with reason doesn't come back. |
A palm wine taper does not stop tapping palm wine because he once fell from the top of a palm wine tree. |
Don't undermine my silence, its got reason; don't rate it, it as got no scale. |
Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off. |
If you're holding someone you can drop him and move on. |
Always stamp your hunting nets where the animal is going to pass. |
The one who wrestles with a big man will soon wear himself out. |
Don't underestimate the determination of a quiet person. |
A bachelor should always spend minimum time with a friend's wife. |
Eating a lot does not satisfy greediness. |
If you're to jump a swamp, you need to make one long hurdle. |
A bird doesn't forget one who killed off his feathers during the rain season. |
Don't count the many times a man falls but those times he rises up. |
A good man gone wrong is usually a bad man found out. |
The person who is coming from the bowels of the earth doesn't despise even the smallest amount of sunshine. |
If your mouth is in someone else's kitchen it cannot get its independence. |
Even a healer's lies are a big relief to a sick person. |
The problem with the palace attendant isn't how to steal the king's drums but where to play them from. |
Even boiled water can extinguish a fire. |
A barren woman is like a leaking pot. |
Enjoy breakfast all alone, share lunch with your best friend and give dinner to your enemy. |
The restless grasshopper only finds rest in the gizzard of a bird. |
A bad habit is like fire you can't play with it and expect not to get burnt. |
In a family if you have somebody who is troublesome it's the family members who are worried than the troublesome member. |
Even if a baby seems unpleasant to look at, his mother never refuses him. |
A bachelor's wife doesn't have ears. |
Even if the hen is poor it cannot leave blank eggs. |
The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. |
An egg today is better than a chicken tomorrow. |
Knowledge is not the main thing, but deeds. |
Even if you close your eyes while looking in the mirror the image remains yours. |
| In the absence of water lizards can claim to be crocodiles. |
Don't expect to be offered a chair when you are visiting a place where the chief sits on the floor. |
A person cutting the path doesn't know that it is crooked. |
The sky is wide enough for two birds to fly without their wings touching. |
Even if you rease your clothes in very hot water you still need to dry them. |
An elephant cannot thin to a cow size. |
It costs you your good spirit to steal than buying or seeking. |
A good name is better than wealth. |
Even if you're rich, you cannot bury yourself. |
It is a surprise that the cock should hold a grudge against the pot, instead of the knife that killed it. |
An elephant grows and becomes an adult, even if people do not like it. |
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes didn't have tears. |
Even the high and noble bow before the barber. |
A bad cook also has his/her share of the bad food. |
A person is what he eats. |
It is childish to remain in a hole when you can take yourself out. |
A barber does not shave himself. |
Don't look at the visitor's face but at his stomach. |
It is hard even for the most selfish man to eat fish in the darkness. |
The sun will shine on those who are standing before it shines on those who are sitting. |
An elephant that kills a rat cannot be considered a hero. |
Even the small leopard is called leopard. |
A good reputation is something you must pay for, but you can never buy. |
The teeth that cannot move in unison cannot bit a piece of meat. |
People should not talk while they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way. |
Don't make a goat your friend if your skirt is made of plantation leaves, or else it will strip you naked. |
It is not by watching a newly wed wife that she is going to become pregnant. |
A person who is always looking at the sky will never discover anything on the ground. |
Even though the elephant is huge enough it cannot carry a big tail. |
On the day a monkey dies, all the trees are slippery. |
The time to slap a king is the time when a fly touches on his cheek. |
A beggar's knees are supple. |
Even when a goat knows that it is being dragged to graze, it still resists. |
It is not worth telling a lovely story at the funeral. |
A grasshopper that sleeps about will be soon awake in a lizard's mouth. |
Even when there is no rooster, the morning will still start. |
A person who is not disciplined cannot be cautioned. |
The tooth is a fool because it smiles to whom it even dislikes. |
It is only when you look down that you can see your nose. |
Don't move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless. |
A bird doesn't alert his fellow bird that a stone is coming. |
Even without drumbeats, banana leaves dance. |
It is the spirit that walks a person through darkness. |
An empty sack cannot stand. |
Every action has its repercussions. |
A green grass in the green snake. |
Don't see animals around the village and say there is nobody to hunt them. |
The voice that comes to borrow is more humble than the voice that comes to sake payment. |
It takes a breast for a child to know it's mother and it takes a mother for a child to know its father. |
A bird may fly off the earth and land on an anthill, but it will still be on the ground. |
Every exit is an entry to somewhere. |
A guest sees more in an hour than a host in a year. |
Every frog is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. |
It's better fast than later. |
A person who sells eggs doesn't start a fight in the market. |
Every hill has its leopard. |
The weed that grows by the riverbank will not suffer the effect of draught. |
Every old man was once a young man but not every young man will become an old man. |
A bird with fire on its tail burns its own nest. |
Everyone has a right to be stupid some just abuse the right. |
The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat. |
Don't show a hyena how well you can bite. |
An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. |
The words of the elders do not lock all the doors, they leave the right door open. |
Everywhere there is a lot of mad even an elephant will slip. |
A blind person knows his environment more than a visitor with eyes. |
Evil prospers because good men fail to act. |
A person's cleverness is not shown by how many words he utters at once but how he utters them. |
It's the big birds that teach the young ones to flight. |
Fire is always a good maid, but a bad boss. |
The worm that exposes itself on the ground is waiting for a lucky bird to devour it. |
An old man may miss his target with a stone but never with his word. |
Firewood yields ash. |
A hen's curses have never killed the eagle. |
Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with gravel in his mouth. |
It's unworthy to dig a new pit to fill up an old one. |
A bowl should not laugh when a calabash breaks. |
Peace is costly but it is worth the expense. |
Foolhardiness made the rat try to jump over the fireplace. |
A poor person has no struggles. |
For the fisherman, the fun is over when the fish are in the net. |
An only palm-fruit doesn't get lost in the fire. |
For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. |
A home without a woman is like a barn without a yam. |
Kindness is a language, which the blind can see and the deaf can hear. |
There are three things that a man must know to survive in this world: what is too much for him, what is too little, and what is just right. |
A bush that doesn't rotate baskets must not grow mushrooms. |
Generosity is white and pure like milk. |
Anger against a brother is felt in the flesh, not in the bone. |
Get what to lend out and at the same time how to demand it back, for payment might be a tussle. |
Knowledge is like a garden, if you don't cultivate it you cannot harvest it. |
There is no day that goes without the moon and no day that goes without sunrise and sunset. |
A pregnant woman cannot claim to be a virgin. |
A camel cannot see the crookedness of its neck. |
Lack of knowledge is darker than night. |
Give me a fish and I will eat today, teach me to fish and I will eat for a lifetime. |
There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. |
A house is for a voyage but a tomb is for eternity. |
This world is a harsh place, this world. |
He who wanders along the beach doesn't eat his rice dry. |
A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. |
Good millet is known at the harvest. |
In the great river there are large and small fish. |
A canoe peddler doesn't tell the crocodile he has along snout until he's crossed the river. |
Good resolutions are like babies crying in church, they should be carried out immediately. |
Those who arrive to the spring first, drink the purest water. |
Any dead fish can flow down the river but it takes a live one to swim back up stream. |
Good things sell themselves; those that are bad have to be advertised. |
A hungry man will thrust his fingers into a snake's hole in search of a grasshopper. |
Those who have not crossed the river yet should not laugh at those who are drowning. |
Like a person, even the moon grows and vanishes in a transitional process. |
Great events may stem from words of no importance. |
No matter how big a child is, he cannot deny that he was once carried on the back of a woman. |
Anyone can be polite to a king, but it takes a gentleman to be polite to a beggar. |
Grass doesn't grow on a bushy road. |
A cat keeps its crawls inside until it meets a mouse. |
Though it is the hand that gives, the man must be thanked. |
| Greatness is not achieved with violence. |
A raindrop does not spare the head of the notable. |
Happiness is like a perfume, you cannot pour it all on others without allowing a few drops to fall on yourself. |
Though the sky belongs to the bird it can't fly when it's raining. |
Lower your head modestly while passing, and you will harvest bananas. |
A hunter with one arrow doesn't shoot with a careless aim. |
Happiness often sneaks through your door when you left the door open. |
Man's greatest battles are the ones he fights within himself. |
Thunder cannot make a deaf person hear. |
Pain is inevitable suffering is optional. |
Anyone who has sold an old lady, knows the price of an old man. |
| If you do not have patience you cannot make beer. |
A centipede is not crippled by the loss of one limb. |
| Milk and honey have different colours, but they share the same house peacefully. |
Haste makes waste. |
A beautiful one hurts the heart. |
To a man who only has a hammer in his tool kit, every problem looks like a nail. |
A rat stinks, but it has its own home. |
Having a good discussion is like having riches. |
A hyena cannot smell its own stench. |
To handle yourself use your head to handle others use your heart. |
Having little knowledge is like having your hands tied around your neck like a slave. |
A razor may be sharper than an ax, but it cannot cut wood. |
Monkeys don't advise there young ones to be careful on trees they just remind them of the distance to the ground. |
He is a wise man who has no worries about the things he doesn't have but he rejoices for those things that he has. |
A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. |
To one who does not know , a small garden is a forest. |
He ought to be feared who sends you with a message, not the one to whom you are sent. |
Move your neck according to the music. |
As long as a cock lives, it is said to have belonged to the child of the house; but when it is slaughtered for super, it is then that the real owner emerges. |
To whom to much is given we require too much from him. |
A hypocrite's hatred is hidden behind flattering words. |
Music speaks louder than words. |
A reflection does not see itself. |
He who asks for the meaning of a proverb has called her/his mother's dowry a waste. |
Never insult your enemy while you're laying down unless there is someone else standing by. |
A chief in the village never sees the devil. |
If you are digging a pit for your enemy, don't make it too deep, for you may fall into it. |
He who asks you to converse ends up telling others that you're shouting. |
He who betrays you is not one from far away. |
Never lose heart because whatever is hot must in the end turn cold. |
Travel and you will see them, sit and they will come to you. |
A juicy bone is useless to a dog with no teeth. |
He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune. |
A restless grasshopper eventually ends up in a birds teeth. |
News does not sleep on the way. |
Truth cannot be hidden forever beneath evil. |
He who crosses a bridge to paradise and blows it after him is going to hell. |
No goal is unachievable. |
As the dog said, "If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is playing. |
Two cats can never be equal; one will always be bigger than the other. |
He who dies of over eating doesn't wither. |
Even a close friend cannot rescue one from old age. |
A king who doesn't tolerate comments about his mouth shouldn't eat in public. |
He who does not cultivate his field, will die of hunger. |
No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. |
A river doesn't flow through the forest without felling the trees. |
He who doesn't clean his mouth before breakfast always complains that the food is sour. |
A child can play with its mother's breasts, but not its father's testicles. |
Until a crab finds itself in a very hot pot of soup, it will never understand that water can be both cold and hot. |
A chief may have more wives than he can remember but you dare not try to share his wives with him. |
No matter how far you are from your house, you will keep going until you get home. |
A river that forgets its source will soon dry out. |
He who doesn't know a grave's coldness, doesn't give the dead their respect. |
A knife does not recognize its owner. |
Until the rotten tooth is pulled out cautiously, the mouth will not have rest. |
No matter how high the vulture may choose to soar, the eagle will remain king of the sky. |
He who doesn't know what kills can sit on fire. |
As the wound inflames the finger, so thought inflames the mind. |
He who doesn't know you, will not value you. |
A rock in the middle of the sea is never afraid of the rain. |
Used recklessly then s/he must have inherited the misused property. |
No matter how long a fallen tree stays in the river it can never be a crocodile. |
A child doesn't breast-feed from a stepmother if its mother is still alive. |
Wars are created by people to old to fight for those to young to die. |
A bottle that believes it's cracked to smile it will end up on the dustbin. |
He who falls, teaches others a lesson. |
A lamb takes after its mother. |
He who feeds the child must be allowed to lick his fingers. |
Ashes fly back into the face of him who throws them. |
| Water that has been begged for does not quench the thirst. |
He who forgets his past is lost. |
No matter how many house chores you complete, there are always more to be done. |
A satisfied man doesn't understand the feeling of a hungry man. |
A child who eats too much shouldn't blame is buttock. |
What comes from the lips reaches the ears, what comes from the heart reaches the heart. |
| No matter how much milk a cow has, you cannot milk butter from it. |
He who has given up doesn't blame the one moving on. |
At a hunting expedition you cannot apportion the meat before you kill the animal. |
He who has no pond must not breed crocodiles. |
A lazy fly cannot have a taste of a fresh wound. * |
No matter how painful the loss, the bereaved won't be buried with the corpse. |
What is put in a basket before going to the market won't be the same thing returned in the basket. |
A second wife cannot celebrate the beating of the first wife because that same beating awaits her when the third wife arrives. |
He who has the necessities has no shame. |
No matter how sharp your teeth are, you can't bite water. |
What makes a fool excited now a wise person had heard before and isn't excited. |
A child who knows how to wash his hands will eat with the chiefs. |
He who is always in a hurry to get things done he never gets it done right. |
A lazy man's farm is the breeding ground for snakes. |
He who is born a fool is never cured. |
Authority is in generosity. |
No matter how tough the current of a river may be it is the calabash that triumphal over the river. |
What the elders see while sitting the young ones standing on their toes won't see. |
He who is close to you knows more about you than he who is far away. |
Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. |
He who is first to receive something forgets when his friend will receive their share. |
It's useless to tell a river to stop running; the best thing is to learn how to swim in the direction it's flowing. |
A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm. |
No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. |
He who is intelligent is taught. |
A short person touches where he can reach. |
Being well dressed does not prevent one from being poor. |
Bad officials are elected by poor citizens who do not vote. |
Nobody wages war with ghosts. |
When a blind man tells you he is going to throw a stone, know that his foot is on the stone. |
A leader is he who tells his people what they must hear, not what they want to hear. |
He who is not happy with the position of the sun should climb and change it. |
A clean conscience makes a soft pillow. |
He who is wise endeavours to learn how to understand the truth not less than that. |
When a cow is crying, a dog is making a party. |
Not the place where I was born but where I hang my hat is home. |
A leopard is such an elusive animal that it can only be caught by the combined force of a man and his father-in-law. |
He who judges others and never allows to be judged looses friends. |
Be aware of a man with a sweet tongue he can lead you to buying bad meat. |
He who learns, teaches. |
A sick way between two people can only be cared for if the two of them die. |
He who lies by the fireside knows how it burns. |
Be careful of what you own because what you own might eventually own you. |
One camel does not make fun of the other camel's hump. |
A cock says it's because of the situation it is faced with that it has its knees in the opposite direction. |
When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it. |
He who moves with each day is better than another who waits for luck. |
Beat one dog and the others will run away. |
One finger cannot wash the whole face. |
He who never knows where is coming from will never know where he is going. |
A lie has many variations, the truth none. |
It is in the house of a coward that people gather and point to the tomb of yesterday's warrior. |
When a stiff-necked bull stands with its four legs planted firmly and refuses to move, you cannot make it go ahead only by pulling it by the reins and using your whip. |
He who pelts another with paddles asks for stones in return. |
He who pursues a hatched bird teaches it how to fly. |
A corn swallowed by a fowl will never germinate in its belly. |
He who rides upon an ass cannot help but smell its gas. |
Before buying a house, see who your neighbours will be. |
He who sacks his wife because she eats a lot will end up marrying a cannibal. |
A little subtleness is better than a lot of force. |
When problems visit a man it arrives with its own bed and table. |
He who says what will I do will never lack what to do. |
A slave must be humble. |
Only a fool believes that the clouds obscure the splendour of the moon. It has shined behind them for eternity. |
| When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day. |
When one hand is injured the other nurses it, when both hands are injured they nurse each other. |
Before shooting, one must aim. |
He who takes a light to find a snake should start at his own feet. |
Only the person who wears the shoe feels it when it pitches. |
A cow must graze where she is tied. |
When the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. |
He who talks forgets what he said but he who listens can't forget. |
A lizard longs to sit down but its tail doesn't let it. |
He who talks to you while travelling at night is thanked in the morning. |
Before you buy shoes, measure your feet. |
Once the teeth are together they can crack the bone. |
Those who think there too big to do little things are perhaps to small to do big things. |
When the cockroach decides to make the cock its friend it must be ready to end up in the cock's stomach. |
He who ventures into the bush should close his ears to rattling. |
A coward always hides behind someone else after he has thrown a stone. |
He who waits for the moon waits for darkness. |
People are like chameleons; circumstances make them change their colour. |
A small axe is not sufficient to cut down a large tree. |
He who wakes up early in the morning receives a bundle of blessings. |
When the hunter returns and is holding mushrooms, don't ask him about how his hunt went. |
A long lasting visitor grinds the wine. |
He who wants authority should never be a visitor. |
People who drink to drown their sorrows, should be told that sorrow knows how to swim. |
A crime eats its own child. |
He who wants to take much dies before going to the in-laws for introduction. |
A small shrub may grow into a tree. |
When there is a big tree, small ones climb on its back to reach the sun. |
He whose mother is naked is not likely to clothe his aunt. |
A day of hunger is not starvation. |
Heal yourself first before you heal others. |
If you get rich, be in a dark corner when you jump for joy. |
Being a good friend of a scorpion doesn't mean that you can't be stung by a honeybee. |
Quarrels end, but words once spoken never die. |
Help me during the flood, and I will help you during the drought. |
A mad dog bites anything except itself. |
Him with a bushy field cannot harvest edibles from it. |
A snake and millipede can both craw on their bellies but this doesn't make them brothers. |
There is no better mirror than a best friend. |
Clothes make the man. |
Him with is own knowledge know how to eat from it. |
A dead body cannot urge over how it should be placed in the grave. |
Gossiping about the enemy can result in a war. |
A camel never sees its own hump. |
Defeat is not failure but trail is total failure. |
Honest advice doesn't destroy true friendship. |
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