African proverbs

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He who receives a gift does not measure.

This is a collection of many African proverbs.

Contents

[edit] Local & Ethnic

[edit] Baganda

  • One who loves you, warns you.

[edit] Ethiopian

  • Evil enters like a splinter and spreads like an oak tree.
  • The mouse is silent while laboring, but when the baby is conceived, she cries.

[edit] Ghanaian

  • Be glad you are unknown, for when you are known, you would wish you weren't
  • The lizard does not eat hot chillies for the frog to sweat.
  • Where error gets to, correction cannot reach.
  • Got a stone but didn't get a nut to crack, got a nut but didn't get a stone to crack it with.
  • You don't need a light to see someone you know intimately at night.
  • The goat thought it was dirtying its owner's wall till it realized its coat was peeling.
  • If a blind man says he will throw a stone at you, he probably has his foot on one.
  • Ashi vie me duna ashie ga o
    • (Literally - The little hand does not beat the big hand)
    • English equivalent: Monkeys play by sizes
  • So many little things makes a man love a woman in a BIG way.
  • Do good because of tomorrow
  • The length of a frog can only be determined after it dies.
  • It is a fool who rejoices when his neighbor is in trouble.
  • Be mindful of your own fingers when you are chewing that of a monkey
  • As you worship plantain, remember to worship banana as well.
  • Count not only my blessings but also count my worries and struggles as well.

[edit] West African

  • What you cannot see during the day, you will not see at night.

[edit] Nigerian

  • If a toad jumps around in the daytime, it is either chasing something or something is chasing it.
  • A bird that flies from the ground onto an anthill does not know that it is still on the ground.
  • you suck ass, her young one watches her mouth.
  • Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten.
  • The Earth moves at different speeds depending on who you are.
  • When the elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.
  • The child that will not allow his parents to sleep through the night must be prepared to stay awake himself.
  • A person once bitten by a snake will be scared by an old rope.
  • When the bush is on fire, the antelope ceases to fear the hunter's bullet.
  • He who dines with the dogs will eat feces.
  • A snake will always give birth to something long.

[edit] Sierra Leone

  • You can't scare a monkey with a dead baboon.

[edit] South African

  • Not everyone who chased the zebra caught it, but he who caught it chased it.
  • I relied on the report of "ntulo" (the blue-headed lizard).

[edit] Zimbabwean

  • A weaning baby that does not cry aloud will die on its mothers back.
  • The forest provides food to the hunter after he is utterly exhausted.
  • One's neighbors' problems do not induce one to lose one's appetite.
  • If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love.
  • That which has horns can not be concealed by cloth.
  • A man that does not lie shall never marry.
  • Eat what you have found with your relatives, non-relatives are forgetful.
  • A king's child is a slave elsewhere.
  • What forgets is the axe, but the tree that has been axed will never forget.
  • Things are to be tried, an old lady cooked stones and they produced soup.

[edit] Zulu

  • In the home of the coward, there is no funeral dirge.
  • A fine staff is hewn from flora in foreign lands.
  • A pelt is rolled up while it is still moist.
  • The foot has no place of repose.
  • What has horns must not be hid in a sack.
  • Harsh world, this world.

[edit] General & Unknown

  • The path is made by walking.
  • The earth is a beehive; we all enter by the same door but live in different cells.
  • An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.
  • Haraka haraka haina baraka
    • Swahili for: "hurry, hurry has no blessing"
  • Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
  • He who forgives ends the argument.
  • Don't set sail on someone else's star.
  • A bad name is like a stigma.
  • A big blanket encourages sleeping in the morning. (Luxury encourages Idleness. If you have worked hard and made wise choices, you will find contentment.)
  • A bird that is eating guinea-corn keeps quiet. (Someone going about his regular business will not create a disturbance. Dedicate yourself to a task.)
  • A bird will always use another birds' feathers to feather its own nest.
  • A blade won't cut another blade; a cheat won't cheat another cheat.
  • A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat!
  • A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.
  • A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm.
  • A close friend can become a close enemy.
  • A cow gave birth to a fire: she wanted to lick it, but it burned; she wanted to leave it, but she could not because it was her own child.
  • A cow that has no tail should not try to chase away flies.
  • A cutting word is worse than a bowstring; a cut may heal, but the cut of the tongue does not.
  • A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.
  • A fool looks for dung where the cow never browsed.
  • A fool will pair an ox with an elephant.
  • A good deed is something one returns.
  • A hippopotamus can be made invisible in dark water. (Ignorance can lead to potential danger. It is important to be informed and alert.)
  • A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle.
  • A little leaven smoothes away the whole lump.
  • A little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.
  • A little subtleness is better than a lot of force.
  • A loose tooth will not rest until it's pulled out.
  • A man who continually laments is not heeded.
  • A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.
  • A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.
  • A man's grave is by the roadside.
  • A man's wealth may be superior to him.
  • A partner in the business will not put an obstacle to it.
  • A person is a person because of other persons.
  • A pretty basket does not prevent worries.
  • A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride.
  • A proverb is the horse of conversation: when the conversation lags, a proverb revives it.
  • A single bracelet does not jingle.
  • A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.
  • A strawberry blossom will not sweeten dry bread.
  • A too modest man goes hungry.
  • A wise man who knows proverbs can reconcile difficulties.
  • Absence makes the heart forget.
  • Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him.
  • After a foolish deed comes remorse.
  • Allah does not destroy the men whom one hates.
  • An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.
  • Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it.
  • Around a flowering tree, one finds many insects.
  • As the dog said, 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is playing.'
  • As the wound inflames the finger, so thought inflames the mind.
  • Because a man has injured your goat, do not go out and kill his bull.
  • Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house.
  • Before eating, open thy mouth.
  • Before one cooks, one must have the meat.
  • Being well dressed does not prevent one from being poor.
  • By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.
  • By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree.
  • Cactus is bitter only to him who tastes of it.
  • Children are the reward of life.
  • Clothes put on while running come off while running.
  • Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.
  • Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you.
  • Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family.
  • Do not call the forest that shelters you a jungle.
  • Do not dispose of the monkey's tail before he is dead.
  • Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.
  • Do not measure the timbers for your house in the forest.
  • Do not say the first thing that comes to your mind
  • Don't insult the crocodile until you cross the water. (Be careful about criticizing others.)
  • Don't kick a sleeping dog.
  • Don't take another mouthful before you have swallowed what is in your mouth.
  • Even over cold pudding, the coward says ~'It will burn my mouth."
  • Even though the old man is strong and hearty, he will not live forever.
  • Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree.
  • Familiarity breeds contempt; distance breeds respect.
  • Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together.
  • Good millet is known at the harvest.
  • Great events may stem from words of no importance.
  • He is a fool whose sheep runs away twice.
  • He that digs up a grave for his enemy, may be digging it for himself.
  • He who asks questions, cannot avoid the answers
  • He who begins a conversation, does not foresee the end.
  • He who cannot dance will say: "The drum is bad."
  • He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.
  • He who digs too deep for a fish, may come out with a snake.
  • He who does not cultivate his field, will die of hunger.
  • He who does not know one thing knows another.
  • He who hunts two rats, catches none.
  • He who is bitten by a snake fears a lizard.
  • He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony.
  • He who learns, teaches.
  • He who loves money must labor.
  • He who receives a gift does not measure.
  • He who talks incessantly talks nonsense.
  • He who wants to barter, usually knows what is best for him.
  • He who wears too fine clothes, shall go about in rags.
  • He, who is free of faults, will never die.
  • Hearts do not meet one another like roads.
  • His opinions are like water in the bottom of a canoe, going from side to side.
  • Home affairs are not talked about on the public square.
  • Hunger is felt by a slave and hunger is felt by a king.
  • If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.
  • If a dead tree falls, it carries with it a live one.
  • If nothing touches the palm-leaves they do not rustle. (Compare English "Where there's smoke there's fire.")
  • If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them?
  • If the heart is sad, tears will flow.
  • If the palm of the hand itches it signifies the coming of great luck.
  • If you are in hiding, don't light a fire.
  • If you burn a house, can you conceal the smoke?
  • If you do not step on the dog's tail, he will not bite you.
  • If you don't stand for something, you will fall for something.
  • If you find no fish, you have to eat bread.
  • If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive.
  • If you tell people to live together, you tell them to quarrel.
  • If you try to cleanse others - like soap, you will waste away in the process!
  • If you watch your pot, your food will not burn.
  • If your house is burning, there is not time to go hunting. (Priorities are important in planning activities.)
  • Indecision is like the stepchild: if he doesn't wash his hands, he is called dirty; if he does, he is wasting the water.
  • It is Mr. Old-Man-Monkey who marries Mrs. Old-Woman-Monkey.
  • It is best to bind up the finger before it is cut.
  • It is no shame at all to work for money.
  • It is the calm and silent water that drowns a man.
  • It is the duty of children to wait on elders, and not the elders on children.
  • It is the fool's sheep that break loose twice.
  • It takes a village to raise a child. (West Africa)
  • It takes a whole village to raise a child
  • It takes two to make a quarrel.
  • It's a bad child who does not take advice.
  • Knowledge is better than riches.
  • Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.