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Best African Proverbs
1. A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground. β Igbo proverb
2. He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad manhimself. β African proverb
3. Where water is the boss there the land must obey. β African proverb
4. No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. β African proverb
5. When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet. β Ethiopian proverb
6. A spiderβs cobweb isnβt only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. β African proverb
7. If you do not have patience you cannot make beer. β Ovambo proverb
8. He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace. β African proverb
9. Teeth do not see poverty. β Masai proverb
10. You have little power over whatβs not yours. β Zimbabwean proverb
11. If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other. β Ethiopian proverb
12. Better little than too little. β Cameroonian proverb
13. You must attend to your business with the vendor in the market, and not to the noise of the market. β Beninese proverb
14. When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope. β Ugandan proverb
15. The night has ears. β Masai proverb
16. The child you sired hasnβt sired you. β Somali proverb
17. A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction. β Nigerian proverb
18. An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. β Senegalese proverb
19. The young bird does not crow until it hears the old ones. β Tswana proverb
20. If you carry the egg basket do not dance. β Ambede proverb
21. The food which is prepared has no master. β Malagasy proverb
22. The worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open. β Zambian proverb
23. Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. β African proverb
24. The child of a rat is a rat. β Malagasy proverb
25. Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth. β Yoruba proverb
26. He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony. β Masai proverb
27. You cannot name a child that is not born. β African proverb
28. Do a good deed and throw it into the sea. β Egyptian proverb
29. When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches. β Nigerian proverb
30. Slander by the stream will be heard by the frogs. β Mozambican proverb
31. A child is a child of everyone. β Sudanese proverb
32. Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against flies. β Ghanaian proverb
33. Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs. β African proverb
34. If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. β Gambian proverb
35. When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger. β Zambian proverb
36. It is crooked wood that shows the best sculptor. β African proverb
37. One who bathes willingly with cold water doesnβt feel the cold. β Fipa proverb
38. Earth is the queen of beds. β Namibian proverb
39. Be a mountain or lean on one. β Somali proverb
40. A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea. β Kenyan proverb
41. Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. β Ewe proverb
42. The death of an elderly man is like a burning library. β Ivorian proverb
43. Anger and madness are brothers. β African proverb
44. Do not follow a person who is running away. β Kenyan proverb
45. An orphaned calf licks its own back. β Kenyan proverb
46. Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands. β Nigerian proverb
47. He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune. β African proverb
48. If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? β Rwandan proverb
49. You cannot build a house for last yearβs summer. β Ethiopian proverb
50. We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings. β Sudanese proverb
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