‹ ProverbsFrançais

African proverbs about wisdom

25 proverbs · 19 cultures

AcholiAkanAmazighAmharicBambaraEweFonFulaniHausaIgboKikuyuLuoMalagasyNdebeleSomaliSwahiliWolofYorubaZulu
An empty sack doesn't stand.
A sack stands only when there is something in it. One common explanation of this saying is that a person, too, must be fed and provided for in order to stand and work.
Actions should be judged according to intention.
The same act can be generous or selfish depending on what lay behind it. Look at the reason, not only the visible result, before deciding what someone's action really means.
Hardened gourd is softened by fire.
A gourd gone hard and brittle won't bend for anything gentle; only real heat softens it. People can be like that too: sometimes understanding only comes after something truly hard forces it.
The night brings wisdom.
A problem looks bigger and worse at the end of an exhausting day. Sleep on it, and after a night clarity tends to arrive before the answer does.
Fortune never comes twice.
An opportunity looks permanent until the moment it's gone. Whatever chance is in front of you now may not come back, so treat it that way.
Discretion is better than valor.
Charging in looks more admirable than holding back, but bravery alone ignores the consequences. Careful judgment counts for more than raw courage, because knowing when not to act is its own strength.
Counsel and advise him; if he refuses to listen, then let adversity teach him.
Give advice first, as you should. But if words don't get through, let the consequences do the teaching, since they teach whether a person wants to listen or not.
A bird hanging between two branches will get bitten on both wings.
A bird caught between two branches is exposed on both sides. The proverb may be read as a warning against trying to serve two masters at once: divided loyalty brings harm from both.
A mature eagle feather will always remain pure.
The proverb takes the eagle's feather as its image of something that keeps its quality. In the same way, someone well trained will stand the test of time.
Once the blind man's groundnut is burnt, he'll eat it raw next time.
A blind man who has once burnt his groundnuts will eat them raw the next time. The proverb says that a painful experience changes how a person acts afterwards.
A child that does not cry dies in the sling.
Speaking up can help others notice that you need support. The silent child is an image of a need that risks going unnoticed.
A closed mouth is gold.
Silence is worth more than careless speech. Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is a form of wealth.
He who rides a camel should not be afraid of dogs.
A rider high on a camel is out of reach of the dogs barking below. The proverb may be read as saying that someone in a strong position need not fear small threats.
The green snake said, "Watching a person is better than biting."
The snake is able to bite, yet it says that watching is better. The proverb advises observing and staying calm rather than hurting someone.
He who does not listen to an elder's advice will see trouble.
Ignoring an elder's advice does not spare you the trouble it was meant to prevent. Elders speak from experience, and skipping their counsel still leaves you to face what they warned about.
One who knows how to swim does not die in the water.
The proverb's swimmer stands for anyone who learned a skill before needing it. Preparation, built up ahead of time, is what brings a person through a danger that would overwhelm someone unprepared.
It is a light rain that chases a child indoors; it is a raging torrent that shakes the raffia palm to its roots.
What sends a child running indoors is nothing to a grown palm, yet the palm has its torrent too. Hardship is measured against the one who bears it, and everyone, however strong, meets a force that can shake them.
Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem.
A hard problem needs a wise person, not a fool. The Akan saying pictures it as a knot of wisdom that only the wise can untie.
Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.
A baobab is too wide for one pair of arms to reach around. Wisdom is the same: too vast for anyone to claim they have mastered it, however learned they are.
There is no suitor without a blemish.
Even the most admired suitor has a flaw. Don't hold others, or yourself, to a perfection that nobody actually reaches.
A wise person is the one who listens to counsel.
Being wise means listening to advice, not just knowing a lot already. Don't brush off the counsel of parents, elders, or your community's council too quickly.
Even if a log stays ages in the water, it never becomes a crocodile.
Time spent among a people, or in a place, does not turn you into one of them, any more than a log left in the water becomes a crocodile. One telling gives it as a light-hearted answer to an outsider who is told they have "become a Fulani".
The shepherd of frogs recognises the limping one.
To a stranger, the frogs all look like they are limping. That is just how they hop. Someone who has spent time with them can tell which one really does. Close, patient attention gives a kind of knowledge nothing else can.
When you get older you keep warm with the wood you gathered as a youth.
The wood that warms an old person was gathered when they were young and strong. The proverb says that comfort in old age comes from the work done earlier in life.
Don't brag about tomorrow today.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring. The proverb warns against boasting about something before it has happened, since the future is uncertain.