African Proverbs |25 May 2022

1. “A bird that flies off the Earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground.”

2. “Only a fool tests the depth of a river with no feet.”

3. “Examine what is said, not who is speaking.”

4. “If you want to know the end, look at the beginning.”

5. “Knowledge is a garden. If it isn’t cultivated, you can’t harvest it.”

6. “A roaring lion kills no game.”

7. “Do not look where you feel. Look where you slipped.”

8. “Restless feet might walk you into a snake pit.”

9. “No shortcuts exist to the top of a palm tree.”

10. “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.”

11. “Tomorrow belongs to people who prepare for it today.”

12. “No medicine exists that can cure hatred.”

13. “All monkeys cannot hang from the same branch.”

14. “He who digs a grave for his enemy might as well be digging one for himself.”

15. “Even the lion protects himself against flies.”

16. “However long the night, the dawn will break.”

17. “If you heal the leg of a person, do not be surprised if they use it to run away.”

18. “The axe forgets but the tree remembers.”

19. “Once you carry your own water, you’ll remember every drop.”

20. “Don’t set sail on someone else’s star.”

21. “To try and to fail is not laziness.”

22. “Seeing is different than being told.”

23. “No matter how beautiful and well-crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death.”

24. “Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight.”

25. “Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.”

26. “A feeble effort will not fulfill the self.”

27. “Having a good discussion is like having riches.”

28. “Don’t think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm.”

29. “He who refuses to obey cannot command.”

30. “Do not call a dog with a whip in your hand.”

31. “One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.”

32. “The earth is a beehive, we all enter by the same door.”

33. “Rain does not fall on one roof alone.”

34. “However far a stream flows, it doesn’t forget its origin.”

35. “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.”

36. “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm.”

37.  “The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.”

38. “No person is born great. Great people become great when others are sleeping.”

39. “When an old man dies, a library is burned with him.”

40. “Truth should be in love and love in truth.”

41. “When you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes but the monkey remains.”

42. “Where there is love, there is no darkness.”

43. “It is better to be loved than to be feared.”

44. “When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.”

45. “He who loves, loves you with your dirt.”

46. “If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy.”

47. “To love someone who doesn’t love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.”

48. “If the full moon loves you, why worry about the stars?”

49. “In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges, and the foolish build dams.”

50. “If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom.”

51. “A wise person will always find a way.”

52. “Nobody is born wise.”

53. “A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning.”

54. “Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden.”

55. “One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom.”

56. “A fool cannot untie the knot tied by a wise man.”

57. “Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand.”

58. “Wisdom does not come overnight.”

59. “One day in the life of a wise man is worth a fool’s entire life.”

60. “To get lost is to learn the way.”

Contributed