195 List of African Sayings Quotes and Proverbs

You should know what's being cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat a forbidden food.

Your food is supposed to be your medicine and your medicine is supposed to be your food.

The great tree chooses where to grow and we find it there, so it is with the greatness in men.

If two brothers fight over their father's land, it is a stranger who will enjoy there sweat and labour.

Whether the egg crashes on the coconut or the coconut crashes on the egg, it is the egg that suffers.

If a man rides on the back of a tiger, he should never be surprised if he ends up in its tummy.

A man does not run among thorns for no reason; either he is chasing a snake or a snake is chasing him.

You could destroy everything I have believed in and your father before you and his father before you.

Despise not a snail for its slow and struggling movement; it has a destination and with time it shall arrive.

A man who touches the bottom of a soup plate with a ball of foofoo is no longer searching for soup.

If you close your eyes because of the bad people around you, you will not see the good people passing by.

A family is like a thick forest, often from outside its dense, when your inside each tree has its own position.

A feather is just a delicate thing when removed from a bird because it carries the bird everywhere in the world.

You can teach other people how to learn other languages but you can't teach them how to govern themselves.

Bones and flesh of the martyrs lie buried in earth, but their revolutionary spirit and single-hearted fidelity remain alive.

A weapon that you don't have in your hand will not kill a snake. Looking for something can get in the way of finding it.

The leopard that covers its black spots with hamaton dust solution will truly be exposed when the rain season comes.

Do not walk behind us, we may not lead; do not walk in front of us, we may not follow; walk besides us, so that we may guide each other.

A marketplace is not the pace for a husband and wife to argue. However long the night may last, there will be a morning. Daylight follows a dark night.

African Proverbs List

Sleep is the cousin of death.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs Download

A man doesn't know when he kills.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

One only realises the importance of a well when the water dries up.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

A debt may get moldy, but it never decays.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

I have learnt your language so I can damn you.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

A determined hunter is never frightened in the jungle.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

Where you killed from is not where you eat from.

List of African Proverbs

Better give birth to a sweating baby than a laughing one.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

If a bird bills the rock then it trusts its beck.

List of African Sayings and Proverbs

If a cat wants to look after your fish don't believe him.

List of African Sayings

Scandal is like an egg; when it is hatched it has wings.

Hunger is felt by a slave, and hunger is felt by a king.

A spiritual leader is able to see the past, present and the future.

However loud an ant shouts from the ground, no one will hear it.

Where there is a hippopotamus, be careful when passing with a pirogue.

Several repeated visits to the mud pit enable the wasp to build its house.

If a dog bites you once it's his fault, but if it bites you again it's your fault.

Society is like a pot it can't carry water when its broken.

A difficult journey will make you daring and harden your will.

Removing a peace of yam from the pot of yam doesn't stop the rest from cooking.

Better to bit your tongue than biting your words.

Who follows the elephant will have no problems.

People think that the poor are not as wise as the rich, for if a man be wise, why is he poor?

A man has to hold his mouth open a long time before a roasted partridge flies into it.

If a man makes soup of his tears, ask him not for broth.

Something you think that is nice when you get into contact with it, it seizes to be nice.

A stolen object does not fill ones heart with joy.

If a soldier doesn't have ambitions to become a general is not a good soldier.

Sometimes the spirits speaks for you and sometimes the spirits makes you speak.

Beware of time because it has the answers.

A man is called a drunkard when he misbehaves, not when he drinks.

If I see you often, I can't call you a visitor.

A strawberry blossom will not sweeten dry bread.

Why they like an ugly person it takes long for a beautiful person to know it.

If all snakes live together in one place who would approach them.

A dog gives birth to a dog.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

A man isn't dead until is buried.

A man is obliged to beat his own chest when he has no drum.

Sweetness attracts more flies than sourness.

If the sun said it had power over the moon then let it come and shine at night.

A strong man never stays long in the ground.

What makes up an anthill is the effort and order of determined and organised termites.

A dog knows its master but not its master's master.

Breaking news of the dead in the right way is very important.

Teaching a monkey to eat with a fork and knife will never make it a man.

A strong tree shall always grow from the roots and not the seeds.

That you don't give birth too, you let him or her carry a stone on the head.

African Proverbs

A dog returns to where he has been fed.

Teeth are all friends among each other.

Buy the truth but never sell it.

A man never grows up until his father dies.

Words are like bullets; if they escape, you can't catch them again.

If you are not an animal you will never find yourself in a trap.

The animal that escapes the hunter's spear is only allowed to go.

Without fingers, the hand would be a spoon.

A thorn under a baobab tree pricks deeper.

By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.

A dog will defend its territory though it's friendly.

The axe forgets; the tree remembers.

If you befriend a mosquito it will still attack you at night.

A man should not be too happy in the morning.

The best morsels are never given to a beggar.

A tree climber begins from the bottom not the top.

If you can walk, you can dance; If you can talk, you can sing.

You can out run that which is running after you but not that that's running inside of you.

The best way to eat the elephant standing in your path is to cut it up into little pieces.

Worry is like a rocking chair it swings you back and forth and it takes you nowhere.

You can beat a fool half to death but you can't beat the foolishness out of him.

A dog you don't feed will never heed your call.

You always pick the fruits of what you plant.

A man who after his dying speech doesn't die, bears the same guilt.

Call kinship with the hyena, and all hyenas are your friend.

A drowning man will clutch at a straw.

The black cow doesn't give black milk.

A tree that refuses to dance will be made to do so by the wind.

If you cannot moan in a true cultural manner then it means your laughing.

A man who dictates separates himself from others.

The brave man is not he who doesn't feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

A fallen branch cannot bear fruits on its own.

There is no point in living if we cannot take back our culture.

A turtle never abandons its carriage.

Negotiate with your enemy whilst you are a strong and formidable force, and he will always fear and respect you, but negotiate at the brink of defeat, and he will trample you down.

A man who doesn't know how to play sex disappears after the first time.

Clouds do not always mean rain, but smoke is a sure sign of fire.

You can't hide the smoke when the house is burning.

A visitor doesn't survive from a stick beat of a burglar.

If you damage the character of another, you damage your own.

A man who is patient is rewarded.

If you don't inquire, you're bound to make mistakes.

The cat and the mouse can't be neighbors for long.

You can't spread a net to catch a bird that is watching you.

A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.

Clothes should not be made for an unborn child.

The length of the rope determines the movement of the goat.

A man who lives on the banks of the Niger should not wash his hands with spittle.

If you don't want a tail of a monkey to touch you then don't attend the monkey dance.

You cannot amputate your genitals for being impotent.

The cock belongs to one household, but when it crows it is heard in the whole village.

A father voodoos with his son and a mother voodoos with her daughter.

You cannot blindfold a man and expect him to ferry you across the river.

A man who marries an outcast is like rain wasted in the forest.

Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.

A weird child at times brings sweet fruits at home.

The corpse of a bird does not decompose in flight, but on the ground.

If you give bad food to your stomach, it drums for you to dance.

You cannot dance without music though you can sing instrumentally without dancing.

Dancing depends on the parents.

A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.

If you have a dog, don't throw away bones.

A white tooth has a bloody root.

The day the monkey is destined to die, all the trees get slippery.

A fish will not live out of water but will prefer air to hot water.

You cannot reject the head of a cow simply because the eye scares you.

Death is a thief.

A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything.

If you have not been to two different bazaars, then you do not know what the best value is.

You cannot stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Death is like a robe everyone has to wear.

If you keep stirring at a girl you cannot have you will never see a girl you can have.

A wise person must know the language, sayings, and tales of his society.

Declare kinship with the hyena, and all hyenas are your friend.

A fly that falls on your wound is more important.

A man with a good will is not only rich but also wise.

A woman is like a banana; one alone can turn the whole bunch rotten.

You do not verify from your mother the authenticity of what your grandmother has told you.

If you man is a wizard, you must become a witch.

A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.

The earth is a beehive; we all enter by the same door but live in different cells.

Do not call the forest that shelters you a jungle.

A woman is never old when it comes to the dance she knows.

You may as well die fighting the enemy than live exploited and be persecuted by him.

If you put a bone in the dog's mouth it doesn't bark.

A man's in-law is his spirit.

The eye cannot bear loads yet it can tell heavy objects from light ones.

A fool may chance to put something into a wise man's head.

Do not follow a person who is running away.

If you see someone riding a bamboo-cane, tell him "What a lovely horse!"

A woman wearing trousers? What has she got hanging in there?

The eye looking at the sun will not need an adviser before it blinks.

A foot must never quarrel with the ground.

Do not laugh at the fallen; you may find slippery roads ahead.

A moonlight has a bottom.

The eyes that have seen the ocean cannot be satisfied by a mere lagoon.

A woman who runs holding her breast has got nothing pursuing her.

The fish that dirties the water will forever swim in dirty water.

A forest cannot be cut with a broken axe.

Do not run away from a pond of water.

Your brother's pocket cannot keep your wealth.

If you think education is expensive try ignorance.

A mother of twin should have impartial breasts.

A word to the wise is enough.

A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody.

Do not step on the dog's tail, and he will not bite you.

A worm cannot kill a fly.

The hottest music and dance always comes from home.

If you value piece and freedom you will loose it. *

A genius is he who is first to be right.

The frog likes water but not when it's boiling.

The hyena sleeps with the sheep.

A needle cannot hold two threads or a mind two thoughts.

Do not throw away the oars before the boat reaches the shore.

A wound inflicted by a friend does not heal.

If you want a better tomorrow do good today.

The kola nut stays longer in the mouths of those who value it.

A genuine gift is like water when it flows out it can never return.

The goat eats where it's tethered.

After the evil cross the crown has come.

The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water.

A newly committed crime awakens sleeping ones.

Don't admire the flying bird before you know the pain of flapping.

All great truths begins as blasphemies.

The grindstones can neither be used as a stool nor a headrest.

If you want to drink clear water from a well be there first.

A goat does not always graze in the same place.

Your previous lies will contradict your future truths.