07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

Hurb

CULTURE

50 African proverbs to get you thinking

Photo: Llywelyn Nys

Dikson
Feb 2, 2017

AS 6-YEAR-OLDS in Zimbabwe, we were taught proverbs before we were taught

how to navigate the nuts and bolts of Shona (the most common language in the
country). This approach left some students capable of dropping rich wisdom
freely but not being able to ask you how your day was.

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 1/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

ADVERTISEMENT

Faça sua Graduação em 2020

Inscreva-se agora e aproveite as bolsas disponíveis
para iniciar o ano estudando.
Unifacs Online Abrir

Many African proverbs are strongly tied to the earth and animals, conveying
We'd like to send you notifications of the latest
lessons of life and learning often news
through daily, seemingly menial, procedures. An
and updates.
example of a Zimbabwean proverb is “there is honey but no bees” — describing a
NO THANKS ALLOW
situation when you nd something free for the taking and without consequence.

Here’s a list of African proverbs from around the continent. Some are known to
come from speci c tribes, ethnic groups, or countries, and others have an
unknown source and are listed simply as “African proverbs.” Have a read and
pluck out some ancestral insight from the motherland to carry with you today.

1. A bird that ies 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 cof n might look, it will not
make anyone wish for death. — African proverb

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 2/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

ADVERTISEMENT

This Town Has Been on Fire for Over 50 Years. Here's

What it Looks Like

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

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 3/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

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

More like this:

3 ways to challenge the single story you’ve heard about Africa

ADVERTISEMENT

Faça sua Graduação em 2020

Inscreva-se agora e aproveite as bolsas disponíveis
para iniciar o ano estudando.
Unifacs Online Abrir

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

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 4/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

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

ADVERTISEMENT

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

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 5/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

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

More like this:

12 Swahili words to know before traveling in East Africa

31. A child is a child of everyone. — Sudanese proverb

32. Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against ies. —
Ghanaian proverb

33. Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs. —
African proverb

34. If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. —
Gambian proverb

35. When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your nger. — Zambian
proverb

36. It is crooked wood that shows the best sculptor. — African proverb

37. One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn’t feel the cold. — Fipa
proverb

38. Earth is the queen of beds. — Namibian proverb

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 6/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

39. Be a mountain or lean on one. — Somali proverb

40. A ea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a ea. — Kenyan
proverb

41. Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. — Ewe
proverb

42. The death of an elderly man is like a burning library. — Ivorian proverb

43. Anger and madness are brothers. — African proverb

44. Do not follow a person who is running away. — Kenyan proverb

45. An orphaned calf licks its own back. — Kenyan proverb

46. Even as the archer loves the arrow that ies, so too he loves the bow that
remains constant in his hands. — Nigerian proverb

47. He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune. — African
proverb

48. If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do
you change the nail? — Rwandan proverb

49. You cannot build a house for last year’s summer. — Ethiopian proverb

50. We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the rst one is roots,
the other one is wings. — Sudanese proverb

What are your favorite African proverbs? Share them in the comments.

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 7/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

More like this:

8 adventurous ways to explore Africa

Bookmark

Posted In

Culture

Destinations

Africa

MORE ON AFRICA

FOOD + DRINK FOOD + DRINK

These   
South African chefs are changing the
global fine-dining landscape  No 
celebration in K
fermented porridg
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 8/10
07/04/2020 g g p
50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life. p g
Jeniffer Chiat Just now Jackline Wambugi

MORE ON CULTURE

NEWS NEWS

A museum dedicated entirely to words and The 13 wisest thing

language is opening in Washington, DC about travel
Eben Diskin Feb 5, 2020 Noelle Alejandra Salmi

travelstoke
Be a local. Wherever you go.

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 9/10
07/04/2020 50 African proverbs that will bring wisdom to your life.

SUBSCRIBE
Fearless travel in your inbox.

Enter Your Email I'M IN!

I agree to the Terms of Service

FOLLOW US
Plan your next adventure.

    

SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO MATADOR!

Matador's growing Creators Community is the place to connect with fellow travel
journalists.


MATADOR NETWORK © 2006-2020

About Jobs Contact Advertise With Us Terms of Service Privacy Policy

     
https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-african-proverbs-to-get-you-thinking/ 10/10