AFRICA

BAMBARA

One here-it-is is better than ten you'll-get-it-laters.

BUGANDA

The one who talks thinks, but the one who does not talk thinks more.

The one who goes to see his mushrooms every day can pick them when they are ripe.

CONGO

Everyone is polite to a chief, but a man of manners is polite to everyone.

To love someone who does not love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.

Man is like palm wine: when young, sweet, but without strength; when old, strong and harsh.

Every bird thinks its nest is the best.

We all love money, but money loves only some of us.

DAMA

The wise man will not say what you did wrong until you ask him.

A man may be famous in the world and yet small in his own house.

A child with parents remains a child. An orphan will soon be an adult.

EGYPT

If you see a town worshiping a calf, mow grass and feed him.

Even a blind cat will still want to hunt mice.

A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in the fist.

Obey your tongue and regret it.

ETHIOPIA

If you work like a slave you will eat like a king.

He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.

The eye has never seen enough, the ear has never heard enough.

The body is earth. When earthenware breaks, it reverts to earth.

EWE

The well brought up man eats with one hand even when he is hungry.

The Hare says: "Walking slowly leads to death." The Chameleon says: "Walking quickly leads to death."

GANDA

He that sets only one trap will not eat meat.

GHANA

When your child pretends to be dying, then you pretend to be making preparations for his funeral.

GUINEA

A thought, once written down, does not get lost.

We cannot love that which we do not know.

KENYA

If the baboon could see his own behind, he would laugh too.

KIKUYU

Frowning frogs cannot stop the cows drinking from the pool.

KIMBUNDU

Death shakes us off like the wind shakes the leaves from the trees.

Man is looking for wealth while Death is looking for him.

KUNAMA

They say there is a God, but He is often asleep.

LIBERIA

No man will starve in his mother's house.

MADAGASCAR

Who knows what hurts himself knows what hurts others.

A good wife is easy to find, but suitable in-laws are rare.

Seeking redress in court is like putting your hand in a hornet's nest.

MALI

A lonely truth can be brought down by a pack of lies.

Your son is always better than your brother's son.

MASAI

A dispute between brothers does not have to be settled by the chief.

MOROCCO

One day you will have to beg God for mercy. Be merciful to beggars now.

An old woman can outwit even the devil.

NAMIBIA

You cannot escape God. You will meet Him in foreign lands.

Smiling teeth are like an empty ostrich egg.

NANDE

After the worms have eaten your father they will eat you.

NIGERIA (YORUBA)

When truth is missing, proverbs are used to discover it.

A woman who has not lived with two husbands will never know which is the better.

Truth cannot be sold on the market place, but lies are bought with ready cash.

If you will never offer palm wine to your uncle, you will not know many proverbs.

You don't divorce someone who rides horses and then marry someone who walks on foot.

Frowning and fierceness do not prove manliness.

Eyes never see a beautiful woman without greeting her.

A wise man who knows proverbs reconciles difficulties.

Even the sharpest knife-blade cannot carve its own handle.

A man does not run among thorns for nothing; either he is chasing a snake or a snake is chasing him.

Proverbs are horses for solving problems.

NIGERIA

Hand and tongue never give alike.

The handsome man is king, if there is no rich man near.

When the mouse laughs at the cat there is a hole nearby.

NORTH AFRICA

Two strong men will move a heavy stone. Two bright lawyers will not agree about the meaning of a word.

A handful of luck is better than a donkey-load of learning.

Your chief and your wife: let them talk first.

SOMALIA

The word that leaves your mouth leaves your control.

SOUTH AFRICA

If you learn it while young, you can do it when old.

Each man for himself and God for all of us.

Old goats love young green leaves.

A blind man may hear more than you see.

Modesty shows good upbringing, but without it you will be richer.

SWAHILI

Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself.

A man's knowledge cannot be read in his face, nor can a woman's virtue.

We are all beggars at God's door.

Where there is smoke, there is fire. Where there is fire there are people. Where there are people there are also wicked people.

If the trunk dies, the branches die too.

If God wishes a man to go astray, He will make his heart blind.

Learning is like sailing the ocean: no one has ever seen it all.

You cannot turn the wind, so turn your sail.

Love is like an illness and the loved one is the only medicine.

The seeker of drunkenness will one day have enough. The seeker of knowledge will never have enough.

A letter from the heart can be read on the face.

When you see sailboats sailing, remember how hard it was to build them.

You cannot bring back love or life.

Courage is the fruit of the decision in the heart.

Does the mosquito thank you for your blood?

Without children a house is sad and silent.

Even God has patience with people.

TETELA

You hide your faults behind a wall, but you parade your neighbor's faults in the market.

UGANDA

People will never agree, but rain will make them all run for shelter.

"No more trouble," you say when the one you love arrives.

WEST AFRICA (ASHANTI)

The tongue kills a man and the tongue saves a man.

WEST AFRICA (FULFULDE)

Lying will get you a wife but not keep her.

WEST AFRICA

The parasite has no roots.

Until the lions produce their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify only the hunter.

YAUNDE

Do not propose to a girl whose home you have not seen.

ZAIRE

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

If you don't like the frog because it eats slugs, then you will have no meal.

The man in love is blind. The woman in love has her eyes half open.

ZANDE

God gave us the seed of every plant, but we must sow it.

ZIGULA

Old age is like weeds: they come slowly but will one day cover the whole field.

ZIMBABWE

The axe forgets, but the tree cannot forget.

If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can...