A Collection of African Proverbs

African Proverbs—A Collection of My Favorites
These come from West Africa—Thanks to Melissa who is teaching in Mali.
Talking doesn't fill the basket in the farm (Success requires
planning and hard work.)

Don't insult the crocodile until you cross the water. (Be careful
about criticizing others.)

Only a knife knows what the inside of a coco-yam looks like. (Those
who investigate and research something understand the subject.)

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.)

Rats don't dance in the cat's doorway. (Don't invite trouble.)

A hippopotamus can be made invisible in dark water. (Ignorance can
lead to potential danger. It is important to be informed and alert.)

If your house is burning, there is not time to go hunting.
(Priorities are important in planning activities.)

This one was made popular by Hillary Clinton:

It takes a village to raise a child. (West Africa)
African Proverbs
Zaire – The Congo
Lower your head modestly while passing, and you will harvest bananas.
No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow.
Do not dispose of the monkey's tail before he is dead.
Love is like a baby: it needs to be treated tenderly.
What is said over the dead lion's body could not be said to him alive.
Children are the reward of life.
The teeth are smiling, but is the heart?
Great events may stem from words of no importance.
Being well dressed does not prevent one from being poor.
Little by little grow the bananas.
You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.
A little subtleness is better than a lot of force.
A pretty basket does not prevent worries.
Two birds disputed about a kernel, when a third swooped down and carried it off.
The son shoots a leopard; the father is proud.
Man is like palm-wine: when young, sweet but without strength; in old age, strong but harsh.
When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day.
No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.
He, who is free of faults, will never die.
If you tell people to live together, you tell them to quarrel.
Zaire—the Congo
A single bracelet does not jingle.
The friends of our friends are our friends.
Wood may remain ten years in the water, but it will never become a crocodile.
Let him speak who has seen with his eyes.
Those who are absent are always wrong.
Ashanti, Ghana
Rain beats a leopard's skin, but it does not wash out the spots.
Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight.
Only when you have crossed the river, can you say the crocodile has a lump on his snout.
If you are in hiding, don't light a fire.
One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.
When a man is wealthy, he may wear an old cloth.
Do not call the forest that shelters you a jungle.
Hunger is felt by a slave and hunger is felt by a king.
The moon moves slowly, but it crosses the town.
The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.
The poor man and the rich man do not play together.
There is no medicine to cure hatred.
It is the calm and silent water that drowns a man.
It's a bad child who does not take advice.
When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.
When a woman is hungry, she says, Roast something for the children that they may eat."
Ashanti, Ghana
When you are rich, you are hated; when you are poor, you are despised.
What is bad luck for one man is good luck for another.
He who cannot dance will say: "The drum is bad."
Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together.
No one tests the depth of a river with both feet
It is no shame at all to work for money.
Money is sharper than a sword.
It is the fool's sheep that break loose twice.
When a man is coming toward you, you need not say: "Come here."
Even though the old man is strong and hearty, he will not live forever.
When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful.
By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.
Baguirmi
The humble pay for the mistakes of their betters.
You are beautiful because of your possessions.
A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.
Lesotho
It is best to bind up the finger before it is cut.
If the palm of the hand itches it signifies the coming of great luck.
Buganda
When the moon is not full, the stars shine more brightly.
He who hunts two rats, catches none.
If you burn a house, can you conceal the smoke?
A strawberry blossom will not sweeten dry bread.
When the master is absent, the frogs hop into the house.
He who is bitten by a snake fears a lizard.
By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree.
The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water.
Cameroon
If you do not step on the dog's tail, he will not bite you.
The cricket cries, the year changes.
When the vine entwines your roof, it is time to cut it down.
Thought breaks the heart.
Knowledge is better than riches.
He who asks questions, cannot avoid the answers
Rain does not fall on one roof alone.
The flood takes him in, and the ebb takes him out.
A man's wealth may be superior to him.
Ethiopia
What is inflated too much, will burst into fragments.
Restless feet may walk into a snake pit.
To one who does not know, a small garden is a forest.
Ethiopia
Snake at your feet - a stick at your hand!
The witness of a rat is another rat.
A fool looks for dung where the cow never browsed.
He who learns, teaches.
The cattle is as good as the pasture in which it grazes.
A fool will pair an ox with an elephant.
Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree.
One who runs alone cannot be outrun.
A close friend can become a close enemy.
Cactus is bitter only to him who tastes of it.
The frog wanted to be as big as the elephant, and burst.
There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday, and no one who became fat because he broke a fast.
One who recovers from sickness, forgets about God.
When the heart overflows, it comes out through the mouth.
A partner in the business will not put an obstacle to it.
When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.
If the heart is sad, tears will flow.
Unless you call out, who will open the door?
He who digs too deep for a fish, may come out with a snake.
Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.
Ethiopia
A loose tooth will not rest until it's pulled out.
The dog I bought, bit me; the fire I kindled, burned me.
A blade won't cut another blade; a cheat won't cheat another cheat.
If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them?
A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle.
The fool speaks, the wise man listens.
A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat!
Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family.
A too modest man goes hungry.
If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive.
He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.
A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.
Where there is no shame, there is no honor.
Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him.
He who wants to barter, usually knows what is best for him.
Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it.
She who does not yet know how to walk, cannot climb a ladder.
Clothes put on while running come off while running.
When a fool is cursed, he thinks he is being praised.
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.
One scoops with a scoop.
Galla
What has been blown away, cannot be found again.
The fool is thirsty in the midst of water.
Even over cold pudding, the coward says ~'It will burn my mouth."
What one hopes for is always better than what one has.
A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.
As the wound inflames the finger, so thought inflames the mind.
Ghana
If you find no fish, you have to eat bread.
Guinea
He who does not cultivate his field, will die of hunger.
A cow that has no tail should not try to chase away flies.
One camel does not make fun of the other camel's hump.
The man on his feet carries off the share of the man sitting down.
Around a flowering tree, one finds many insects.
The toad likes water, but not when it's boiling.
Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.
To make preparations does not spoil the trip.
When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it.
A good deed is something one returns.
To have two eyes is cause for pride; but to have one eye is better than to have none.
Ivory Coast
A little leaven smoothes away the whole lump.
Ivory Coast
Too much discussion means a quarrel.
Mutual affection gives each his share.
Mutual gifts cement friendship.
It takes two to make a quarrel.
He who talks incessantly talks nonsense.
Kenya
After a foolish deed comes remorse.
He who receives a gift does not measure.
He who does not know one thing knows another.
Because a man has injured your goat, do not go out and kill his bull.
Do not say the first thing that comes to your mind
A man who continually laments is not heeded.
Talking with one another is loving one another.
Try this bracelet: if it fits you wear it; but if it hurts you, throw it away no matter how shiny.
Absence makes the heart forget.
If a dead tree falls, it carries with it a live one.
Virtue is better than wealth.
He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony.
One finger alone cannot kill even a louse.
There is no phrase without a double meaning.
Hearts do not meet one another like roads.
Kenya
One does not slaughter a calf before its mother's eyes.
There is no cure that does not cost.
Seeing is different from being told.
It is the duty of children to wait on elders, and not the elders on children.
Thunder is not yet rain.
Soon found soon lost.
Home affairs are not talked about on the public square.
Good millet is known at the harvest.
Liberia
Do not measure the timbers for your house in the forest.
Though the palm tree in the jungle is big, who knows how big its yield will be?
A little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.
Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly, but flooding the river.
The dog's bark is not might, but fright.
If you try to cleanse others - like soap, you will waste away in the process!
Madagascar
Indecision is like the stepchild: if he doesn't wash his hands, he is called dirty; if he does, he is wasting the water.
Life is a shadow and a mist; it passes quickly by, and is no more.
Don't kick a sleeping dog.
Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends.
Love is like young rice: transplanted, still it grows.
Madagascar
Don't take another mouthful before you have swallowed what is in your mouth.
Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you.
Mauritania
He who wears too fine clothes, shall go about in rags.
Before eating, open thy mouth.
A cutting word is worse than a bowstring; a cut may heal, but the cut of the tongue does not.
Too large a morsel chokes the child.
One must talk little, and listen much.
Not all the flowers of a tree produce fruit.
Two eyes see better than one.
He who loves money must labor.
He who begins a conversation, does not foresee the end.
Nigeria
Familiarity breeds contempt; distance breeds respect.
The dying man is not saved by medicine.
Some birds avoid the water, ducks seek it.
Niger
A proverb is the horse of conversation: when the conversation lags, a proverb revives it.
If you watch your pot, your food will not burn.
A wise man who knows proverbs can reconcile difficulties.
Before one cooks, one must have the meat.
African Proverbs (19th C.)
The languages of Africa are rich in proverbs. These examples were collected in the 19th century and reflect traditional values. They were collected and translated by various Europeans and edited by the famous explorer Richard F. Burton in 1865 in Wit and Wisdom from West Africa.
Wolof:
The house-roof fights with the rain, but he who is sheltered ignores it.
To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better.
Allah does not destroy the men whom one hates.
Oji (Ashanti):
If nothing touches the palm-leaves they do not rustle. (Compare English "Where there's smoke there's fire.")
He is a fool whose sheep runs away twice.
Yoruba:
The man who has bread to eat does not appreciate the severity of a famine.
Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house.
When your neighbor's horse falls into a pit, you should not rejoice at it, for your own child may fall into it too.
The pot-lid is always badly off: the pot gets all the sweet, the lid nothing but steam. (Said of slaves, who work without pay.)
Efik:
His opinions are like water in the bottom of a canoe, going from side to side.
You lament not the dead, but lament the trouble of making a grave; the way of the ghost is longer than the grave.
Some African Proverbs
1. 1. "The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them."
2. 2. "If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings."
3. 3. "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk."
4. 4. "A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."
5. 5. "An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb."
6. 6. "The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did."
7. 7. You can tell a ripe corn by its look."
8. 8. "A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride."
9. 9. "Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble."
10. 10. "When a man says yes, his chi (personal god) says yes also."
11. 11. "You must judge a man by the work of his hands."
12. 12. "The mouth which eats does not talk."
13. 13. "People should not talk while they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way."
14. 14. "A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches."
15. 15. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm."
16. 16. "As the dog said, 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is playing.'"
17. 17. "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for something."

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