‹ ProverbsFrançais

African proverbs about work

8 proverbs · 7 cultures

AcholiBurundiFonIgboLuoSwahiliWolof
One who has their stomach in their hands will not go hungry.
To hold your stomach in your own hands is to provide for yourself. The proverb says that a person who works and relies on their own effort will not go hungry.
You can hang an item from where you are seated, but when you want to get it down, you have to stand up.
Setting something up can be done comfortably, from a distance, with little effort. Getting the reward down always takes one last unavoidable effort: sitting still won't finish the job.
When wealth reaches home, the wealthy person will be known.
Wealth that stays hidden might as well not exist. What earns a person recognition is not the size of a private fortune but what it visibly does for their household and community.
If he who buys milk is proud, he who sells it should be prouder.
The proverb sets the buyer's pride beside the seller's. If having the milk is something to be proud of, the one who had it to sell has more reason still.
The person who gets blisters from the hoe-handle will not die of hunger.
Blisters from the hoe are the mark of someone who has worked the land. The proverb says that a person who works hard will have enough to eat.
Blacksmiths and woodworkers will never suffer from poverty.
A trade, once learned, can't be taken from you the way money or land can. Skilled work is the most lasting security a person can have.
A roaring lion does not catch any prey.
A lion that only roars catches nothing; it is the hunt that feeds it. The proverb is said of people who boast about what they will do and never act on it.
The child of a hawk does not eat vegetables.
A hawk hunts so that its young do not have to settle for a meal as meager as vegetables were thought to be. The proverb urges parents to work hard to provide for their children.