AFRICAN PROVERBS ON
WISDOM
- Wisdom is wealth. ~ Swahili
- Wisdom is like a baobab
tree; no one individual can embrace it. ~ Akan proverb
- The fool speaks, the wise
man listens. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- Wisdom does not come overnight. ~
Somali proverb
- The heart of the wise man lies
quiet like limpid water. ~ Cameroon proverb
- Wisdom is like fire. People take
it from others. ~ Hema (DRC) proverb
- Only a wise person can solve a
difficult problem. ~ Akan proverb
- Knowledge without wisdom is like
water in the sand. ~ Guinean proverb
- In the moment of crisis, the wise
build bridges and the foolish build dams. ~ Nigerian proverb
- If you are filled with pride, then
you will have no room for wisdom. ~ African proverb
- A wise person will always find a
way. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- Nobody is born wise. ~ African
proverb
- A man who uses force is afraid of
reasoning. ~Kenyan proverb
- Wisdom is not like money to be
tied up and hidden. ~ Akan proverb
African Quotes on Learning
- Learning expands great souls. ~
Namibian proverb
- To get lost is to learn the way. ~
African proverb
- By crawling a child learns to
stand. ~ African proverb
- If you close your eyes to facts,
you will learn through accidents. ~ African proverb
- He who learns, teaches. ~
Ethiopian proverb
- 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 more when
you lose than when you win. ~ African proverb
- You learn how to cut down trees by
cutting them down. ~ Bateke proverb
- The wise create proverbs for fools
to learn, not to repeat. ~ African proverb
- What you help a child to love can
be more important than what you help him to learn. ~African proverb
- By the time the fool has learned
the game, the players have dispersed. ~Ashanti proverb
- One who causes others misfortune
also teaches them wisdom. ~ African proverb
- You do not teach the paths of the
forest to an old gorilla. ~Congolese proverb
- What you learn is what you die
with. ~ African proverb
- Instruction in youth is like
engraving in stone. ~Moroccan Proverb
- When you follow in the path of
your father, you learn to walk like him. ~Ashanti Proverb
- Ears that do not listen to advice,
accompany the head when it is chopped off. ~African Proverb
- Advice is a stranger; if he’s
welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day. ~Malagasy
Proverb
- Traveling is learning. ~Kenyan
Proverb
- Where there are experts there will
be no lack of learners. ~Swahili Proverb
African proverbs on Peace and Leadership
- Peace is costly but it is worth the
expense. ~Kenyan proverb
- War has no eyes ~ Swahili saying
- When a king has good counselors,
his reign is peaceful. ~Ashanti proverb
- Peace does not make a good ruler.
~Botswana proverb
- A fight between grasshoppers is a
joy to the crow. ~ Lesotho proverb
- There can be no peace without
understanding. ~Senegalese proverb
- Milk and honey have different
colors, but they share the same house peacefully. ~ African proverb
- If you can’t resolve your problems
in peace, you can’t solve war. ~ Somalian proverb
- When there is peace in the
country, the chief does not carry a shield. ~Ugandan proverb
- When two elephants fight, it is
the grass that gets trampled. ~ Swahili saying
- Speak softly and carry a big
stick; you will go far. ~ West African proverb
- He who thinks he is leading and
has no one following him is only taking a walk. ~ Malawian proverb
- An army of sheep led by a lion can
defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. ~ Ghanaian proverb
- He who is destined for power does
not have to fight for it. ~ Ugandan proverb
- Do not forget what is to be a
sailor because of being a captain yourself. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- Without a leader, black ants are
confused. ~Ugandan proverb
- He who refuses to obey cannot
command. ~ Kenyan proverb
- He who fears the sun will not
become chief. ~Ugandan proverb
- A large chair does not make a
king. ~ Sudanese proverb
- Because he lost his reputation, he
lost a kingdom. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- Where a woman rules, streams run
uphill. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- A leader who does not take advice
is not a leader. ~ Kenyan proverb
- If the cockroach wants to rule
over the chicken, then it must hire the fox as a body-guard. ~ Sierra
Leone proverb
African Quotes on Unity and Community
- Unity is strength, division is
weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
- Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.
~ Bondei proverb
- It takes a village to raise a
child. ~ African proverb
- Cross the river in a crowd and the
crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
- Many hands make light work.
~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb
- Where there are many, nothing goes
wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
- Two ants do not fail to pull one
grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- A single bracelet does not jingle.
~ Congolese proverb
- A single stick may smoke, but it
will not burn. ~ African proverb
- If you want to go quickly, go
alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb
African Quotes on Family
- A family is like a forest, when
you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree
has its place. ~ African Proverb
- A united family eats from the same
plate. ~ Baganda proverb
- A family tie is like a tree, it
can bend but it cannot break. ~ African proverb
- If I am in harmony with my family,
that’s success. ~ Ute proverb
- Brothers love each other when they
are equally rich. ~ African proverb
- Dine with a stranger but save your
love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- There is no fool who is disowned
by his family. ~ African proverb
- Home affairs are not talked about
on the public square. ~ African proverb
- If relatives help each other, what
evil can hurt them? ~ African proverb
- He who earns calamity, eats it
with his family. ~ African proverb
- Dine with a stranger but save your
love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- The old woman looks after the
child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old
woman when she loses her teeth. ~ Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast) proverb
- When brothers fight to the death,
a stranger inherits their father’s estate. ~ Ibo proverb
- Children are the reward of life. ~
African proverb
African Proverbs on Friendship
- To be without a friend is to be poor
indeed. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- Hold a true friend with both
hands. ~ African proverb
- The friends of our friends are our
friends. ~ Congolese proverb
- A friend is someone you share the
path with. ~ African proverb
- Show me your friend and I will
show you your character. ~ African proverb
- Return to old watering holes for
more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. ~ African
proverb
- Between true friends even water
drunk together is sweet enough. ~ African proverb
- A small house will hold a hundred
friends. ~ African proverb
- A close friend can become a close
enemy.~ African proverb
- Bad friends will prevent you from
having good friends. ~ Gabon proverb
African Proverbs on Money, Wealth, Riches and Poverty
- Make some money but don’t
let money make you. ~ Tanzania
- It is no shame at all to work for
money. ~ Africa
- He who loves money must labor.
~ Mauritania
- By labor comes wealth. ~
Yoruba
- Poverty is slavery. ~Somalia
- One cannot both feast and become
rich. ~ Ashanti
- One cannot count on riches.
~ Somalia
- Money is sharper than the sword. –
Ashanti
- A man’s wealth may be superior to
him. ~ Cameroon
- The rich are always complaining.
~ Zulu
- The wealth which enslaves the
owner isn’t wealth. ~ Yoruba
- The poor man and the rich man do
not play together. ~ Ashanti
- Lack of money is lack of friends;
if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be
related to you. ~ Yoruba
- With wealth one wins a woman.
~ Uganda
- Dogs do not actually prefer bones
to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan
- A real family eats the same
cornmeal. ~ Bayombe
- If your cornfield is far from your
house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Congo
- Money can’t talk, yet it can make
lies look true. ~ South Africa
- One cannot count on riches.
~ Somalia
- Money is not the medicine against
death. ~ Ghana
- He who receives a gift does not
measure. ~ Africa
- Much wealth brings many enemies. –
Swahili
- There is no one who became rich
because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast.
~ Ethiopia
- What you give you get, ten times
over. ~ Yoruba
- Greed loses what it has gained.
~ Africa
- You become wise when you begin to
run out of money. ~ Ghana
- If ten cents does not go out, it
does not bring in one thousand dollars. ~ Ghana
- You should not hoard your money
and die of hunger. – Ghana
- Wealth diminishes with usage;
learning increases with use. ~ Nigeria
- Wisdom is not like money to be
tied up and hidden. ~ Akan
- Having a good discussion is like
having riches ~ Kenya
- Knowledge is better than riches.
~ Cameroon
- You must act as if it is
impossible to fail. ~ Ashanti
- Do not let what you cannot do tear
from your hands what you can. ~ Ashanti
African Proverbs on Beauty
- One who plants grapes by the road
side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem.
~Ethiopian Proverb
- Beautiful from behind, ugly in
front. ~Uganda 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
- A beautiful one hurts the heart.
~African Proverb
- Anyone who sees beauty and does
not look at it will soon be poor. ~Yoruba Proverb
- The surface of the water is
beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- If there is character, ugliness
becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~Nigerian
Proverb
- You are beautiful, but learn to
work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~Congolese Proverb
- The one who loves an unsightly
person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~Ganda Proverb
- Having beauty doesn’t mean
understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~African Proverb
- You are beautiful because of your
possessions. ~Baguirmi Proverb
- Every woman is beautiful until she
speaks. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Three things cause sorrow to flee;
water, green trees, and a beautiful face. ~Moroccan Proverb
- A beautiful thing is never
perfect. ~Egyptian Proverb
- Patience is the mother of a
beautiful child. ~Bantu Proverb
- There is no beauty but the beauty
of action. ~Moroccan Proverb
- Judge not your beauty by the
number of people who look at you, but rather by the number of people who
smile at you. ~African Proverb
- A pretty face and fine clothes do
not make character. ~Congolese Proverb
- Youth is beauty, even in cattle.
~Egyptian Proverb
- A pretty basket does not prevent
worries. ~Congolese Proverb
- It’s those ugly caterpillars that
turn into beautiful butterflies after seasons. ~African Proverb
- The most beautiful fig may contain
a worm. ~Zulu Proverb
- It is only a stupid cow that
rejoices at the prospect of being taken to a beautiful abattoir. ~African
Proverb
- A woman who pursues a man for sex
loses her spiritual beauty. ~African Proverb
- A chicken with beautiful plumage
does not sit in a corner. ~African Proverb
- The cook does not have to be a
beautiful woman. ~Shona Proverb
- Beautiful words don’t put porridge
in the pot. ~Botswana Proverb
- She is beautiful; she has love,
understands; she respects herself and others; everyone likes, loves and
honors her; she is a goddess. ~African Proverb
- There is always a winner even in a
monkey’s beauty contest. ~African Proverb
- Dress up a stick and it’ll be a
beautiful bride. ~Egyptian Proverb
- An ugly child of your own is more
to you than a beautiful one belonging to your neighbor. ~Ganda Proverb
- Even the colors of a chameleon are
for survival not beauty. ~African Proverb
- Beautiful discourse is rarer than
emerald ~ yet it can be found among the servant girls at the grindstones.
~Egyptian Proverb
- When a once-beautiful piece of
cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa
master weavers. ~Igbo Proverb
- A woman’s polite devotion is her
greatest beauty. ~African Proverb
- There are many colorful flowers on
the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns. ~African
Proverb
- He who marries a beauty marries
trouble. ~Nigerian Proverb
- Despite the beauty of the moon,
sun and the stars, the sky also has a threatening thunder and striking
lightening. ~African Proverb
- Getting only a beautiful woman is
like planting a vine on the roadside everyone feeds on it. ~African
Proverb
- Greatness and beauty do not belong
to the gods alone. ~Nigerian Proverb
- Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty
but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Beauty is not sold and eaten.
~Nigerian Proverb
- She is like a road – pretty, but
crooked. ~Cameroonian Proverb
- Why they like an ugly person takes
long for a beautiful person to know. ~African Proverb
- If you find “Miss This Year”
beautiful, then you’ll find “Miss Next Year” even more so. ~Nigerian
Proverb
- The beauty of a woman becomes
useless if there is no one to admire it. ~African Proverb
African Love and Marriage Quotes
- He who loves the vase loves also
what is inside. ~ African proverb
- It’s much easier to fall in love
than to stay in love. ~ African proverb
- Coffee and love taste best when
hot. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- Where there is love there is no
darkness. ~Burundian proverb
- If you are ugly you must either
learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverp
- Pretend you are dead and you will
see who really loves you. ~ African proverb
- To love the king is not bad, but a
king who loves you is better. ~ Wolof proverb
- A happy man marries the girl he
loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb
- If you marry a monkey for his
wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb
- Love never gets lost it’s only
kept. ~ African proverb
- Never marry a woman who has bigger
feet than you. ~ Mozambique proverb
- One thread for the needle, one
love for the heart. ~ Sudanese proverb
- Love has to be shown by deeds not
words. ~ Swahili proverb
- Love is a despot who spares no
one. ~Namibian proverb
- Marriage is like a groundnut; you
have to crack it to see what is inside. ~ Ghanaian proverb
African Quotes on Patience
- Patience is the key which solves
all problems. ~ Sudanese proverb
- Hurry, hurry has no blessings. ~
Swahili proverb
- Patience is the mother of a
beautiful child. ~ Bantu proverb
- To run is not necessarily to
arrive. ~ Swahili proverb
- Patience can cook a stone. ~
African proverb
- A patient man will eat ripe fruit.
~ African proverb
- At the bottom of patience one
finds heaven. ~ African proverb
- A patient person never misses a
thing. ~ Swahili proverb
- Patience puts a crown on the head.
~ Ugandan proverb
- Patience attracts happiness; it
brings near that which is far. ~ Swahili proverb
- Always being in a hurry does not
prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. ~ Ibo proverb
- However long the night, the dawn
will break. ~ African proverb (personal favourite!)
African Quotes on Food
- As porridge benefits those who
heat and eat it, so does a child benefit those that rear it. ~Amharic Proverb
- The forest not only hides man’s
enemies but its full of man’s medicine, healing power and food. ~African
Proverb
- One person is a thin porridge; two
or three people are a lump of ugali. ~Kuria Proverb
- The man who counts the bits of
food he swallows is never satisfied. ~African Proverb
- Wine, women and food give gladness
to the heart. ~Ancient Egyptian Proverb
- The food that is in the mouth is
not yet in the belly. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- You cannot work for food when
there is no food for work. ~African Proverb
- The chicken that digs for food
will not sleep hungry. ~Bayombe Proverb
- He who eats another mans food will
have his own food eaten by others. ~Swahili Proverb
- Food gained by fraud tastes sweet
to a man, but he ends up with gravel in his mouth. ~African Proverb
- No partridge scratches the ground
in search of food for another. ~Xhosa Proverb
- The grasshopper which is always
near its mother eats the best food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- Don’t take another mouthful before
you have swallowed what is in your mouth. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Rich people sometimes eat bad
food. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- The impotent man does not eat
spicy foods. ~Congolese Proverb
- You should know what’s being
cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat a forbidden food. ~African
Proverb
- When the leg does not walk, the
stomach does not eat. ~Mongo (Congolese) Proverb
- A healthy person who begs for food
is an insult to a generous farmer. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- One spoon of soup in need has more
value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food. ~Angolan
Proverb
- Cooked food is not sold for goats.
~Kikuyu Proverb
- The mouth is stupid after eating
it forgets who gave it the food. ~African Proverb
- A dog knows the places he is
thrown food. ~Acholi Proverb
- One who eats alone cannot discuss
the taste of the food with others. ~African Proverb
- Words are sweet, but they never
take the place of food. ~Ibo Proverb
- The man who has bread to eat does
not appreciate the severity of a famine. ~Yoruba Proverb
- He who doesn’t clean his mouth
before breakfast always complains that the food is sour. ~African Proverb
- The hyena with a cub does not
consume all the available food. ~Akamba Proverb
- When the food is cooked there is
no need to wait before eating it. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- What one won’t eat by itself, one
will eat when mixed with other food. ~Bantu & Lamba Proverb
- Man is like a pepper, till you
have chewed it you do not know how hot it is. ~Haussa Proverb
- No one gets a mouthful of food by
picking between another person’s teeth. ~Igbo Proverb
- It is not the cook’s fault when
the cassava turns out to be hard and tasteless. ~Ewe Proverb
- A housewife who complains that
there is not enough foodstuff in the market should remember that if her
husband adds to what is already available, there would be more for
everyone. ~Nigerian Proverb
- A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its
sleeping spring but also its food trap. ~African Proverb
- If you watch your pot, your food
will not burn. ~Mauritanian, Nigerian, and Niger Proverb
- Those who are at one regarding
food are at one in life. ~Malawian Proverb
- Fine words do not produce food.
~Nigerian Proverb
- Even the best cooking pot will not
produce food. ~African Proverb
- If I could see your face, I would
not need food. ~Amharic Proverb
- If you find no fish, you have to
eat bread. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- War is not porridge. ~Gikuyu
Proverb
- The best of mankind is a farmer;
the best food is fruit. ~Ethiopian Proverb
- Slowly, slowly, porridge goes into
the gourd. ~Kuria People of Kenyan & Tanzania
- One shares food not words. ~Somali
Proverb
- If you are looking for a fly in
your food it means that you are full. ~South African Proverb
- Nature gave us two cheeks instead
of one to make it easier to eat hot food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- A patient that can swallow food
makes the nurse doubtful. ~Malagasy Proverb
- If you give bad food to your
stomach, it drums for you to dance. ~African Proverb
- A bad cook also has his/her share
of the bad food. ~African Proverb
- The forest provides food to the
hunter after he is utterly exhausted. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Things are to be tried, an old
lady cooked stones and they produced soup. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- You cannot tell a hungry child
that you gave him food yesterday. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Good music goes with good food.
~African Proverb
- Rich people cook their food in a
potsherd. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- However little food we have, we’ll
share it even if it’s only one locust. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Water is colourless and tasteless
but you can live on it longer than eating food. ~African Proverb
- Eat when the food is ready; speak
when the time is right. ~Ethiopian Proverb
- The food eaten first lasts longest
in the stomach. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- When your luck deserts you, even
cold food burns. ~Zambian Proverb
- Happiness is as good as food.
~Maasai Proverb
- Good words are food, bad words
poison. ~Malagasy Proverb
- The goat says: “Where there is
blood, there is plenty of food.” ~Ghanaian Proverb
- If you see a man in a gown eating
with a man in rags, the food belongs to the latter. ~Fulani Proverb
- They ate our food, and forgot our
names. ~Tunisian Proverb
- An abundance of food at your
neighbour’s will not satisfy your hunger. ~Bayaka Proverb
- Food you will not eat you do not
boil. ~African Proverb
- Learning expands great souls. ~
Namibian proverb
- To get lost is to learn the way. ~
African proverb
- By crawling a child learns to
stand. ~ African proverb
- If you close your eyes to facts,
you will learn through accidents. ~ African proverb
- He who learns, teaches. ~
Ethiopian proverb
- 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 more when
you lose than when you win. ~ African proverb
- You learn how to cut down trees by
cutting them down. ~ Bateke proverb
- The wise create proverbs for fools
to learn, not to repeat. ~ African proverb
- What you help a child to love can
be more important than what you help him to learn. ~African proverb
- By the time the fool has learned
the game, the players have dispersed. ~Ashanti proverb
- One who causes others misfortune
also teaches them wisdom. ~ African proverb
- You do not teach the paths of the
forest to an old gorilla. ~Congolese proverb
- What you learn is what you die
with. ~ African proverb
- Instruction in youth is like
engraving in stone. ~Moroccan Proverb
- When you follow in the path of
your father, you learn to walk like him. ~Ashanti Proverb
- Ears that do not listen to advice,
accompany the head when it is chopped off. ~African Proverb
- Advice is a stranger; if he’s
welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day. ~Malagasy
Proverb
- Traveling is learning. ~Kenyan
Proverb
- Where there are experts there will
be no lack of learners. ~Swahili Proverb
African Quotes on Unity and Community
- Unity is strength, division is
weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
- Sticks in a bundle are
unbreakable. ~ Bondei proverb
- It takes a village to raise a
child. ~ African proverb
- Cross the river in a crowd and the
crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
- Many hands make light work.
~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb
- Where there are many, nothing goes
wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
- Two ants do not fail to pull one
grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- A single bracelet does not jingle.
~ Congolese proverb
- A single stick may smoke, but it
will not burn. ~ African proverb
- If you want to go quickly, go
alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb
African Quotes on Family
- A family is like a forest, when
you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree
has its place. ~ African Proverb
- A united family eats from the same
plate. ~ Baganda proverb
- A family tie is like a tree, it
can bend but it cannot break. ~ African proverb
- If I am in harmony with my family,
that’s success. ~ Ute proverb
- Brothers love each other when they
are equally rich. ~ African proverb
- Dine with a stranger but save your
love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- There is no fool who is disowned
by his family. ~ African proverb
- Home affairs are not talked about
on the public square. ~ African proverb
- If relatives help each other, what
evil can hurt them? ~ African proverb
- He who earns calamity, eats it
with his family. ~ African proverb
- Dine with a stranger but save your
love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- The old woman looks after the
child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old
woman when she loses her teeth. ~ Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast) proverb
- When brothers fight to the death,
a stranger inherits their father’s estate. ~ Ibo proverb
- Children are the reward of life. ~
African proverb
African Proverbs on Friendship
- To be without a friend is to be
poor indeed. ~ Tanzanian proverb
- Hold a true friend with both
hands. ~ African proverb
- The friends of our friends are our
friends. ~ Congolese proverb
- A friend is someone you share the
path with. ~ African proverb
- Show me your friend and I will
show you your character. ~ African proverb
- Return to old watering holes for
more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. ~ African
proverb
- Between true friends even water
drunk together is sweet enough. ~ African proverb
- A small house will hold a hundred
friends. ~ African proverb
- A close friend can become a close
enemy.~ African proverb
- Bad friends will prevent you from
having good friends. ~ Gabon proverb
African Proverbs on Money, Wealth, Riches and Poverty
- Make some money but don’t
let money make you. ~ Tanzania
- It is no shame at all to work for
money. ~ Africa
- He who loves money must labor.
~ Mauritania
- By labor comes wealth. ~
Yoruba
- Poverty is slavery. ~Somalia
- One cannot both feast and become
rich. ~ Ashanti
- One cannot count on riches.
~ Somalia
- Money is sharper than the sword. –
Ashanti
- A man’s wealth may be superior to
him. ~ Cameroon
- The rich are always complaining.
~ Zulu
- The wealth which enslaves the
owner isn’t wealth. ~ Yoruba
- The poor man and the rich man do
not play together. ~ Ashanti
- Lack of money is lack of friends;
if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be
related to you. ~ Yoruba
- With wealth one wins a woman.
~ Uganda
- Dogs do not actually prefer bones
to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan
- A real family eats the same
cornmeal. ~ Bayombe
- If your cornfield is far from your
house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Congo
- Money can’t talk, yet it can make
lies look true. ~ South Africa
- One cannot count on riches.
~ Somalia
- Money is not the medicine against
death. ~ Ghana
- He who receives a gift does not
measure. ~ Africa
- Much wealth brings many enemies. –
Swahili
- There is no one who became rich
because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast.
~ Ethiopia
- What you give you get, ten times
over. ~ Yoruba
- Greed loses what it has gained.
~ Africa
- You become wise when you begin to
run out of money. ~ Ghana
- If ten cents does not go out, it
does not bring in one thousand dollars. ~ Ghana
- You should not hoard your money
and die of hunger. – Ghana
- Wealth diminishes with usage;
learning increases with use. ~ Nigeria
- Wisdom is not like money to be
tied up and hidden. ~ Akan
- Having a good discussion is like
having riches ~ Kenya
- Knowledge is better than riches.
~ Cameroon
- You must act as if it is
impossible to fail. ~ Ashanti
- Do not let what you cannot do tear
from your hands what you can. ~ Ashanti
African Proverbs on Beauty
- One who plants grapes by the road
side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem.
~Ethiopian Proverb
- Beautiful from behind, ugly in
front. ~Uganda 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
- A beautiful one hurts the heart.
~African Proverb
- Anyone who sees beauty and does
not look at it will soon be poor. ~Yoruba Proverb
- The surface of the water is
beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- If there is character, ugliness
becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~Nigerian
Proverb
- You are beautiful, but learn to
work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~Congolese Proverb
- The one who loves an unsightly
person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~Ganda Proverb
- Having beauty doesn’t mean
understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~African Proverb
- You are beautiful because of your
possessions. ~Baguirmi Proverb
- Every woman is beautiful until she
speaks. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Three things cause sorrow to flee;
water, green trees, and a beautiful face. ~Moroccan Proverb
- A beautiful thing is never
perfect. ~Egyptian Proverb
- Patience is the mother of a
beautiful child. ~Bantu Proverb
- There is no beauty but the beauty
of action. ~Moroccan Proverb
- Judge not your beauty by the
number of people who look at you, but rather by the number of people who
smile at you. ~African Proverb
- A pretty face and fine clothes do
not make character. ~Congolese Proverb
- Youth is beauty, even in cattle.
~Egyptian Proverb
- A pretty basket does not prevent
worries. ~Congolese Proverb
- It’s those ugly caterpillars that
turn into beautiful butterflies after seasons. ~African Proverb
- The most beautiful fig may contain
a worm. ~Zulu Proverb
- It is only a stupid cow that
rejoices at the prospect of being taken to a beautiful abattoir. ~African
Proverb
- A woman who pursues a man for sex
loses her spiritual beauty. ~African Proverb
- A chicken with beautiful plumage
does not sit in a corner. ~African Proverb
- The cook does not have to be a
beautiful woman. ~Shona Proverb
- Beautiful words don’t put porridge
in the pot. ~Botswana Proverb
- She is beautiful; she has love,
understands; she respects herself and others; everyone likes, loves and honors
her; she is a goddess. ~African Proverb
- There is always a winner even in a
monkey’s beauty contest. ~African Proverb
- Dress up a stick and it’ll be a
beautiful bride. ~Egyptian Proverb
- An ugly child of your own is more
to you than a beautiful one belonging to your neighbor. ~Ganda Proverb
- Even the colors of a chameleon are
for survival not beauty. ~African Proverb
- Beautiful discourse is rarer than
emerald ~ yet it can be found among the servant girls at the grindstones.
~Egyptian Proverb
- When a once-beautiful piece of
cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa
master weavers. ~Igbo Proverb
- A woman’s polite devotion is her
greatest beauty. ~African Proverb
- There are many colorful flowers on
the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns. ~African
Proverb
- He who marries a beauty marries
trouble. ~Nigerian Proverb
- Despite the beauty of the moon,
sun and the stars, the sky also has a threatening thunder and striking
lightening. ~African Proverb
- Getting only a beautiful woman is
like planting a vine on the roadside everyone feeds on it. ~African
Proverb
- Greatness and beauty do not belong
to the gods alone. ~Nigerian Proverb
- Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty
but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Beauty is not sold and eaten.
~Nigerian Proverb
- She is like a road – pretty, but
crooked. ~Cameroonian Proverb
- Why they like an ugly person takes
long for a beautiful person to know. ~African Proverb
- If you find “Miss This Year”
beautiful, then you’ll find “Miss Next Year” even more so. ~Nigerian
Proverb
- The beauty of a woman becomes
useless if there is no one to admire it. ~African Proverb
African Love and Marriage Quotes
- He who loves the vase loves also
what is inside. ~ African proverb
- It’s much easier to fall in love
than to stay in love. ~ African proverb
- Coffee and love taste best when
hot. ~ Ethiopian proverb
- Where there is love there is no
darkness. ~Burundian proverb
- If you are ugly you must either
learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverp
- Pretend you are dead and you will
see who really loves you. ~ African proverb
- To love the king is not bad, but a
king who loves you is better. ~ Wolof proverb
- A happy man marries the girl he
loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb
- If you marry a monkey for his
wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb
- Love never gets lost it’s only
kept. ~ African proverb
- Never marry a woman who has bigger
feet than you. ~ Mozambique proverb
- One thread for the needle, one
love for the heart. ~ Sudanese proverb
- Love has to be shown by deeds not
words. ~ Swahili proverb
- Love is a despot who spares no
one. ~Namibian proverb
- Marriage is like a groundnut; you
have to crack it to see what is inside. ~ Ghanaian proverb
African Quotes on Patience
- Patience is the key which solves
all problems. ~ Sudanese proverb
- Hurry, hurry has no blessings. ~
Swahili proverb
- Patience is the mother of a
beautiful child. ~ Bantu proverb
- To run is not necessarily to
arrive. ~ Swahili proverb
- Patience can cook a stone. ~
African proverb
- A patient man will eat ripe fruit.
~ African proverb
- At the bottom of patience one
finds heaven. ~ African proverb
- A patient person never misses a
thing. ~ Swahili proverb
- Patience puts a crown on the head.
~ Ugandan proverb
- Patience attracts happiness; it
brings near that which is far. ~ Swahili proverb
- Always being in a hurry does not
prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. ~ Ibo proverb
- However long the night, the dawn
will break. ~ African proverb (personal favourite!)
African Quotes on Food
- As porridge benefits those who
heat and eat it, so does a child benefit those that rear it. ~Amharic
Proverb
- The forest not only hides man’s
enemies but its full of man’s medicine, healing power and food. ~African
Proverb
- One person is a thin porridge; two
or three people are a lump of ugali. ~Kuria Proverb
- The man who counts the bits of
food he swallows is never satisfied. ~African Proverb
- Wine, women and food give gladness
to the heart. ~Ancient Egyptian Proverb
- The food that is in the mouth is
not yet in the belly. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- You cannot work for food when
there is no food for work. ~African Proverb
- The chicken that digs for food
will not sleep hungry. ~Bayombe Proverb
- He who eats another mans food will
have his own food eaten by others. ~Swahili Proverb
- Food gained by fraud tastes sweet
to a man, but he ends up with gravel in his mouth. ~African Proverb
- No partridge scratches the ground
in search of food for another. ~Xhosa Proverb
- The grasshopper which is always
near its mother eats the best food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- Don’t take another mouthful before
you have swallowed what is in your mouth. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Rich people sometimes eat bad
food. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- The impotent man does not eat
spicy foods. ~Congolese Proverb
- You should know what’s being
cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat a forbidden food. ~African
Proverb
- When the leg does not walk, the
stomach does not eat. ~Mongo (Congolese) Proverb
- A healthy person who begs for food
is an insult to a generous farmer. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- One spoon of soup in need has more
value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food. ~Angolan
Proverb
- Cooked food is not sold for goats.
~Kikuyu Proverb
- The mouth is stupid after eating
it forgets who gave it the food. ~African Proverb
- A dog knows the places he is
thrown food. ~Acholi Proverb
- One who eats alone cannot discuss
the taste of the food with others. ~African Proverb
- Words are sweet, but they never
take the place of food. ~Ibo Proverb
- The man who has bread to eat does
not appreciate the severity of a famine. ~Yoruba Proverb
- He who doesn’t clean his mouth
before breakfast always complains that the food is sour. ~African Proverb
- The hyena with a cub does not
consume all the available food. ~Akamba Proverb
- When the food is cooked there is
no need to wait before eating it. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- What one won’t eat by itself, one
will eat when mixed with other food. ~Bantu & Lamba Proverb
- Man is like a pepper, till you
have chewed it you do not know how hot it is. ~Haussa Proverb
- No one gets a mouthful of food by
picking between another person’s teeth. ~Igbo Proverb
- It is not the cook’s fault when
the cassava turns out to be hard and tasteless. ~Ewe Proverb
- A housewife who complains that
there is not enough foodstuff in the market should remember that if her
husband adds to what is already available, there would be more for
everyone. ~Nigerian Proverb
- A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its
sleeping spring but also its food trap. ~African Proverb
- If you watch your pot, your food
will not burn. ~Mauritanian, Nigerian, and Niger Proverb
- Those who are at one regarding
food are at one in life. ~Malawian Proverb
- Fine words do not produce food.
~Nigerian Proverb
- Even the best cooking pot will not
produce food. ~African Proverb
- If I could see your face, I would
not need food. ~Amharic Proverb
- If you find no fish, you have to
eat bread. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- War is not porridge. ~Gikuyu
Proverb
- The best of mankind is a farmer;
the best food is fruit. ~Ethiopian Proverb
- Slowly, slowly, porridge goes into
the gourd. ~Kuria People of Kenyan & Tanzania
- One shares food not words. ~Somali
Proverb
- If you are looking for a fly in
your food it means that you are full. ~South African Proverb
- Nature gave us two cheeks instead
of one to make it easier to eat hot food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
- A patient that can swallow food
makes the nurse doubtful. ~Malagasy Proverb
- If you give bad food to your
stomach, it drums for you to dance. ~African Proverb
- A bad cook also has his/her share
of the bad food. ~African Proverb
- The forest provides food to the
hunter after he is utterly exhausted. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Things are to be tried, an old
lady cooked stones and they produced soup. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- You cannot tell a hungry child
that you gave him food yesterday. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
- Good music goes with good food.
~African Proverb
- Rich people cook their food in a
potsherd. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- However little food we have, we’ll
share it even if it’s only one locust. ~Malagasy Proverb
- Water is colourless and tasteless
but you can live on it longer than eating food. ~African Proverb
- Eat when the food is ready; speak
when the time is right. ~Ethiopian Proverb
- The food eaten first lasts longest
in the stomach. ~Kikuyu Proverb
- When your luck deserts you, even
cold food burns. ~Zambian Proverb
- Happiness is as good as food.
~Maasai Proverb
- Good words are food, bad words
poison. ~Malagasy Proverb
- The goat says: “Where there is
blood, there is plenty of food.” ~Ghanaian Proverb
- If you see a man in a gown eating
with a man in rags, the food belongs to the latter. ~Fulani Proverb
- They ate our food, and forgot our
names. ~Tunisian Proverb
- An abundance of food at your
neighbour’s will not satisfy your hunger. ~Bayaka Proverb
- Food you will not eat you do not
boil. ~African Proverb
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