African proverbs about perseverance

This saying is often read as tying patience directly to prosperity. Staying steady through hardship, rather than rushing toward an outcome, is what it credits with the reward.

Work done slowly is still work done, and it stays done. The proverb says that slow progress is progress all the same.

The source gives this saying as a riddle and leaves its meaning open. One reading: a drum makes music only when it is struck again and again, so results come from repeated effort.

No single raindrop can fill a valley, and none is asked to. Steady accumulation, given enough time, adds up to something substantial.

One ant can do nothing to an elephant. Many small, persistent efforts, all working at something far bigger than any of them, can eventually bring it down.

The sling used to carry a baby is kept even after a child has died. The proverb is used to encourage people not to give up hope after a loss or a disappointment.