"One thing I deeply respect about Africa is the treasure of wisdom our ancestors
have 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 Pro verb *Nobody is born wise- African Proverb LEARNING *If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents-African Prove rb *Wealth if you use it comes to an end;learning if you use it increases- Swahili Proverb *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-Af rican 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-Gh anaian 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 a body 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- Africa n 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 th em meat-Akan *You should not hoard your money and die of hunger-Ghana *Knowledge is bette rthan riches-Cameroon
*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, shar e 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 Pro verb *The Surface of the water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on-Ghanaian P roverb *If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty, if there is none, beauty become s 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 th e 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 tha t it was woven by Ukwa Master Weavers-Igbo Proverb *There are many colourful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have th e sharpest thorns *Despite the beauty of the Moon, Sun and the stars, the sky also has a threateni ng 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-Ghanaian Proverb *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 *