Ethiopian Proverbs and Sayings

This page collects every saying in the archive recorded as coming from Ethiopia: 14 proverbs, 11 quotes. 5 of them carry a written explanation of what it means; the rest are being added over time.

The named voices here are Haile Selassie (9), Marcus Samuelsson (1) and Meles Zenawi (1). The proverbs are left unattributed, because a proverb belongs to the people who repeat it rather than to whoever first said it.

The subjects they return to most often are Love, History and Leadership.

A few from this collection:

• No matter how many times you wash a goat, it will still smell like a goat.
• Even if made of gold, shoes are still for the feet.
• The horse may carry the warrior to the battlefield, but it will never fight the battle.

See also all countries, every proverb in the archive, or browse by subject.