This document contains a collection of proverbs from various African cultures relating to topics like wisdom, learning, leadership, community, family, friendship, wealth, beauty, love, patience, and food. The proverbs convey insightful cultural perspectives and values through short, memorable sayings.
This document contains a collection of proverbs from various African cultures relating to topics like wisdom, learning, leadership, community, family, friendship, wealth, beauty, love, patience, and food. The proverbs convey insightful cultural perspectives and values through short, memorable sayings.
This document contains a collection of proverbs from various African cultures relating to topics like wisdom, learning, leadership, community, family, friendship, wealth, beauty, love, patience, and food. The proverbs convey insightful cultural perspectives and values through short, memorable sayings.
"One thing I deeply respect about Africa is the treasure of wisdom our ancestors
have handed down to us"
African Proverbs WISDOM *Wisdom is Wealth-Swahili *The Fool Speaks, the wise man listens-Ethiopian Proverb *Wisdom does not come Overnight-Somali Proverb *Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand-Guinean Proverb *If you are filled with Pride, then you will have no room for wisdom-African Pro verb *Nobody is born wise- African Proverb LEARNING *If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents-African Prove rb *Wealth if you use it comes to an end;learning if you use it increases- Swahili Proverb *By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree-Buganda Proverb *YOu always learn a lot when you lose than when you win- African Proverb *YOu do not teach the paths of the forest to an old Gorilla-Congolese Proverb *Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off-Af rican Proverb *Travelling is learning-Kenyan Proverb PEACE & LEADERSHIP *A fight between two grasshoppers is a joy to the crow-Lesotho Proverb *When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled-Swahili Proverbs *Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far-West African Proverb *An army of Sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of Lions led by by a sheep-Gh anaian Proverb *A large Chair does not make a King-Sudanese Proverb *If the cockroach wants to rule over the chicken, then it must hire the fox as a body guard-Sierra Leone Proverb UNITY & COMMUNITY *Unity is strength, divisiion is weakness-Swahili Proverb *Cross the River in a crowd and the Crocodile won't eat you- African Proverb *Many hands make light work-Haya(Tz) Proverb *A single stick will smoke but it will not burn-African Proverb *If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together- Africa n Proverb FAMILY *Home affairs are not talked about on the Public Square-African Proverb FRIENDSHIP *Hold a true friend with both hands-African Proverb *The friends of our friends are our friends-Congolese Proverb *Bad froends will prevent you from having good friends-Gabon Proverb MONEY,WEALTH, RICHES & POVERTY *Make some money but don't let money make you-Tanzania *Poverty is slavery-Somalia *With wealth one wins a woman-Uganda *Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives th em meat-Akan *You should not hoard your money and die of hunger-Ghana *Knowledge is bette rthan riches-Cameroon
*You must act as if it is impossible to fail-Ashanti
BEAUTY *One who plants grapes by the road side and one who marries a pretty woman, shar e the same problem-Ethiopian Proverb *The skin of the leopard is beautiful but not his heart- Baluba Proverb *Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty-Nigerian Proverb *Anyone who looks at beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor-Yoruba Pro verb *The Surface of the water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on-Ghanaian P roverb *If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty, if there is none, beauty become s ugliness- Nigerian Proverb *Every woman is beautiful until she speaks-Zimbabwean Proverb *A beautiful thing is never perfect-Egyptian Proverb *Judge not your beauty by the number of people who look at you, but rather by th e number of people who smile at you- African Proverb *A pretty face and fine clothes do not make character- Congolese Proverb *It's those ugly caterpillars that turn into beautiful butterflies after seasons -African Proverbs *The most beautiful fig may contain a worm-Zulu Proverb *Even the colors of a Chameleon are for Survival not beauty-African Proverb *When a once beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers tha t it was woven by Ukwa Master Weavers-Igbo Proverb *There are many colourful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have th e sharpest thorns *Despite the beauty of the Moon, Sun and the stars, the sky also has a threateni ng thunder and striking lightening-African Proverb AFRICAN LOVE & MARRIAGE *Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you- African Proverb *Love has to be shown by deeds not words-Swahili Proverb PATIENCE *Hurry Hurry has no blessings-Swahili Proverb "Haraka Haraka Haina Baraka" *Patience can cook a stone-African Proverb *A patient man will eat ripe fruit-African Proverb *A patient person never misses a thing-African Proverb FOOD *A healthy person who begs for food is an insult to the generous farmer-Ghanaian Proverb *The hyena with a cub does not consume all the available food-Akamba Proverb *The best of mankind is a farmer, the best food is fruit *If you give bad food to your stomach, it drums for you to dance-African Proverb *Good music goes with Good Food-African Proverb *