African Proverbs & Old African Sayings
African Proverbs 1 2 3
However long the night, the dawn will break. |
| A dog knows the places he is thrown food. |
| Blind belief is dangerous. - Luyia , Western Kenya |
| Bad dancing does not brake an engagement. - Luyia , Western Kenya |
| A messenger cannot be beaten . - Luyia proverbs , Western Kenya |
| A Dog that steals sells its body. - Luyia proverbs , Western Kenya |
| A Champion bull starts from birth. - Luyia.Western Kenya |
| The pillar of the world is hope. - Kanuri proverb, Nigeria |
| A tree not taller than an ant cannot shade you. - Kanuri proverb, Nigeria |
| He who marries a real beauty is seeking trouble. - Accra proverb, Ghana |
| The young can't teach traditions to the old. - Yoruba proverb |
| There is no medicine against old age. - Accra proverb, Ghana |
| That man's a fool whose sheep flees twice. - Oji proverb |
| When your mouth stumbles, it's worse than feet. - Oji proverb |
| Hold a true friend with both hands. - Kanuri proverb, Nigeria |
| The pillar of the world is hope. - Kanuri proverb, Nigeria |
| One does not love if one does not accept from others. - Kanuri proverb, Nigeria |
| Rising early makes the road short. - Wolof proverb, Senegal |
| It is better to walk than curse the road. - Wolof proverb, Senegal |
| If there is cause to someone, the cause to love has just begun. - Wolof proverb, Senegal |
| The teeth of a man serve as a fence. - Wolof proverb, Senegal |
| We add wisdom to knowledge. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| A hyena cannot smell its own stench. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| Do not follow a person who is running a way. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| We should put out fire while it is still small. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| Water can not be forced uphill. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| The eye is a coward. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| We should talk while we are still alive. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| Even a friend can not rescue one from old age. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| You can not take away someone's luck. - Kalenjin (Kenya) |
| There is no bad patience. - (Knappert, p. 46, Swahili). |
| A low-class man will just talk; deeds are the hallmark of a gentleman. - (Knappert, p. 84, Swahili) |
| God is our neighbour when our brother is absent. - (Knappert, p. 33, Swahili) |
| A donkey knows no gratitude. - (Knappert, p. 138, Swahili) |
| The climber of ladders will descend [the ambitious person will be brought back down]. - (Knappert, p. 93, Swahili) |
| The good looks of a moron do not stay that way for long. - Ethiopia (Ayele, p. 23, Amharic) |
| The haughty blind person picks a fight with his guide. - Ethiopia |
| The best of mankind is a farmer; the best food is fruit. - Ethiopia |
| Do not vacillate or you will be left in between doing something, having something and being nothing. - Ethiopia |
| It is foolhardy to climb two trees at once just because one has two feet. - Ethiopia |
| Though the lion and the antelope happen to live in the same forest, the antelope still has time to grow up. - Cape Coast, Ghana |
| When you are at home, your troubles can never defeat you. - Cape Coast, Ghana |
| A stranger does not skin a sheep that is paid as a fine at a chief's court. - Cape Coast, Ghana |
| The orphan does not rejoice after a heavy breakfast. - Cape Coast, Ghana |
| The chicken is never declared in the court of hawks. - Cape Coast, Ghana |
| He flees from the roaring lion to the crouching lion. Sechuana |
| A crime eats its own child. Sechuana |
| A sorcerer has no distinctive colour. Sechuana |
| He has not married a woman; for she is [the equal of] a man. Sechuana |
