African Proverbs and Old African Sayings
African Proverbs 1 2 3
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]. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| God's rain falls even on the . - Fipa, 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 |
| The crows, the idle person grumbles. - Yoruba, 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 |
| Before the chicken carefully observe the character of your guest. Mandingo proverb |
| The ivator is alone, but those who eat are many. -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. |
