30 AFRICAN PROVERBS

AFRICA PROVERBS

Africans lives their day with proverbs, in our vocabularies lies wise sayings
1. A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground. — Igbo proverb

2. He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad manhimself. — African proverb

3. Where water is the boss there the land must obey. — African proverb

4. No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. — African proverb

5. When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet. — Ethiopian proverb

6. A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. — African proverb

7. If you do not have patience you cannot make beer. — Ovambo proverb

8. He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace. — African proverb

9. Teeth do not see poverty. — Masai proverb

10. You have little power over what’s not yours. — Zimbabwean proverb

11. If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other. — Ethiopian proverb

12. Better little than too little. — Cameroonian proverb

13. You must attend to your business with the vendor in the market, and not to the noise of the market. — Beninese proverb

14. When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope. — Ugandan proverb

15. The night has ears. — Masai proverb

16. The child you sired hasn’t sired you. — Somali proverb

17. A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction. — Nigerian proverb

18. An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. — Senegalese proverb

19. The young bird does not crow until it hears the old ones. — Tswana proverb

20. If you carry the egg basket do not dance. — Ambede proverb

21. The food which is prepared has no master. — Malagasy proverb

22. The worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open. — Zambian proverb

23. Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. — African proverb

24. The child of a rat is a rat. — Malagasy proverb

25. Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth. — Yoruba proverb

26. He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony. — Masai proverb

27. You cannot name a child that is not born. — African proverb

28. Do a good deed and throw it into the sea. — Egyptian proverb

29. When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches. — Nigerian proverb

30. Slander by the stream will be heard by the frogs. — Mozambican proverb

Credit: Matador Network