African Proverbs and Old African Sayings
African Proverbs 1 2 3
People know each other better on a journey. Plaatje |
| Let rats shoot arrows at each other. Sudan |
| Do not tell the man carrying you that he stinks. Sierra Leone |
| You suffer from smoke produced by the firewood you fetched yourself. Luhya, Kenya |
| A man who dictates separates himself from others. Somalia |
| Be on the alert, like the red ant that moves with its claws wide open. Uganda |
| Instruction in youth is like engraving in stones. Berber, North Africa |
| To be happy in one's home is better than to be a chief. Yoruba, Nigeria |
| The elephant never gets tired of carrying its tusks. Vai, Liberia |
| By coming and going, a bird weaves its nest. Ashanti, Ghana |
| You are sitting in peace (unharmed): as the nose of a cow that feeds among thorntrees and shows no scars. Luganda, Uganda |
| The rainmaker who doesn't know what he's doing will be found out by the lack of clouds. Luganda, Uganda |
| One who is crazy for meat hunts buffalo. Luganda, Uganda |
| One person is thin porridge or gruel; two or three people are a handful of stiff cooked corn meal. - Kuria, Kenya/Tanzania and Ngoreme, Tanzania |
| That which is good is never finished. - Sukuma, Tanzania |
| One who sees something good must narrate it. - Ganda, Uganda |
| To be praised is to be lost. - Kikuyu, Kenya |
| The one chased away with a club comes back, but the one chased away with kihooto [reason] does not. - Kikuyu, Kenya |
| He who refuses to obey cannot command. - Kikuyu, Kenya |
| He who refuses to obey cannot command. - Kikuyu, Kenya |
| If one is roasting two potatoes, one of them is bound to get charred. - Kikuyu, Kenya. |
| Goodness gets a seat. - Igala, Nigeria. (Pachocinski, p. 224; explanation: good people will be shown favors and will live longer). |
| The frog does not run in the daytime for nothing. - Igbo, Nigeria |
| Do they prepare leather [for a battle shield] the day they fight? - Zar, Nigeria |
| When cutting, look at the age of the machete. - Fulfulde, Nigeria |
| He who loves money must labor. (Mauritania) |
| Poverty is slavery (Somalia) |
| One cannot both feast and become rich. (Ashanti tribe) |
| There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast. Ethiopia |
| Knowledge is better than riches. Cameroon |
| Money is sharper than the sword. Ashanti tribe |
| One cannot count on riches. Somalia |
| The poor man and the rich man do not play together. Ashanti tribe |
| A man's wealth may be superior to him. Cameroon |
| With wealth one wins a woman. Uganda |
| The rich are always complaining. Zululand |
| Where the rooster crows there is a village. -Schambala proverb |
| Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat,it is just that no one ever gives them meat. Akan proverb, West Africa |
| A real family eats the same cornmeal. -Bayombe proverb |
| If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. Pigmy proverb |
| He who loves money must labor. Mauritania |
| One cannot both feast and become rich. Ashanti tribe |
| Knowledge is better than riches Cameroon |
| Money is sharper than the sword. Ashanti tribe |
| One cannot count on riches. Somalia |
| The poor man and the rich man do not play together. Ashanti tribe |
| Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. |
| Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. |
| 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) |
