Proverbs from Africa

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    "One thing I deeply respect about Africa is the treasure of wisdom our ancestorshave 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 Proverb*Nobody is born wise- African Proverb

    LEARNING*If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents-African Proverb*Wealth if you use it comes to an end;learning if you use it increases- SwahiliProverb*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-African 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-Ghanaian 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 abody 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- African 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 them meat-Akan*You should not hoard your money and die of hunger-Ghana*Knowledge is bette rthan riches-Cameroon

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    *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, share 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 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*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 the 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 that it was woven by Ukwa Master Weavers-Igbo Proverb

    *There are many colourful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns*Despite the beauty of the Moon, Sun and the stars, the sky also has a threatening 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-GhanaianProverb*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*