African Proverbs 4.0

The thing about African proverbs is their strong ties to the earth and its animals.

These wise words supply an endless stream of life lessons and learning - often observed throughout the doing of daily tasks or nearby the home. Take the example of Zimbabwean proverb, "there is honey but no bees", giving an image on the situation when you find something free for the taking and without consequence. Is there such a thing though? Below comes 50 odd proverbs from the African continent. Some are of specific origin, ethnic groups or from particular tribes, others are things they say in a particular African country, while others remain unknown and may simply just go under African proverbs. Gain whatever you may and remember, if you are like me (Bible abdicated) to look out for worship of nature, seas or things such as animism. Many African cultures are riddled with animism. Enjoy!

"A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground."

— Igbo proverb

"He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad manhimself."

— African proverb

"Where water is the boss there the land must obey."

— African proverb

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

— African proverb

"When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet."

— Ethiopian proverb

"A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap."

— African proverb

"If you do not have patience you cannot make beer."

— Ovambo proverb

"He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace."

— African proverb

"Teeth do not see poverty."

— Masai proverb

"You have little power over what’s not yours."

— Zimbabwean proverb

"If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other."

— Ethiopian proverb

"Better little than too little."

— Cameroonian proverb

"You must attend to your business with the vendor in the market, and not to the noise of the market."

— Beninese proverb

"When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope."

— Ugandan proverb

"The night has ears."

— Masai proverb

"The child you sired hasn’t sired you."

— Somali proverb

"A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction."

— Nigerian proverb

"An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend."

— Senegalese proverb

"The young bird does not crow until it hears the old ones."

— Tswana proverb

"If you carry the egg basket do not dance."

— Ambede proverb

"The food which is prepared has no master."

— Malagasy proverb

"The worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open."

— Zambian proverb

"Even the best cooking pot will not produce food."

— African proverb

"The child of a rat is a rat."

— Malagasy proverb

"Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth."

— Yoruba proverb

"He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony."

— Masai proverb

"You cannot name a child that is not born."

— African proverb

"Do a good deed and throw it into the sea."

— Egyptian proverb

"When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches."

— Nigerian proverb

"Slander by the stream will be heard by the frogs"

— Mozambican proverb

"A child is a child of everyone."

— Sudanese proverb

"Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against flies."

— Ghanaian proverb

"Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs."

— African proverb

"If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail."

— Gambian proverb

"When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger."

— Zambian proverb

"It is crooked wood that shows the best sculptor."

— African proverb

"One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn’t feel the cold."

— Fipa proverb

"Earth is the queen of beds."

— Namibian proverb

"Be a mountain or lean on one."

— Somali proverb

"A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea."

— Kenyan proverb

"Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it."

— Ewe proverb

"The death of an elderly man is like a burning library."

— Ivorian proverb

"Anger and madness are brothers."

— African proverb

"Do not follow a person who is running away."

— Kenyan proverb

"An orphaned calf licks its own back."

— Kenyan proverb

"Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands."

— Nigerian proverb

"He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune."

— African proverb

"If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail?"

— Rwandan proverb

"You cannot build a house for last year’s summer."

— Ethiopian proverb

"We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings."

— Sudanese proverb`

Uxolo lube nani