African Proverbs
African proverbs collected by country and tribe, with meanings where they have been written. 435 in the archive.
- It's a bad child who does not take advice.Ghana
- A beautiful thing is never perfect.Egypt
- A big blanket encourages sleeping in the morning.
- A bird can be guarded, a wife can't.
- A black cow, just like a white cow, produces white milk.
- A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor.
- A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat!.
- A chattering bird builds no nest.
- A child is a child of everyone.Sudan
- A cow that has no tail should not try to chase away flies.Guinea
- A day of hunger is not starvation.Congo
- A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.
- A fool looks for dung where the cow never browsed.
- No matter how many times you wash a goat, it will still smell like a goat.Ethiopia
- A good deed is something one returns.Guinea
- A good thing sells itself, a bad one advertises itself.
- A good wife is easy to find, but suitable in-laws are rare.Madagascar
- A guard dog cannot watch two homes at once.
- A hand cannot wash itself. Each hand must take a turn in washing the other for both hands to be clean.Nigeria
- A hippopotamus can be made invisible in dark water.
- A hunter with one arrow does not shoot with a careless aim.Nigeria
- A letter from the heart can be read on the face.
- A lion does not eat its own cubs.Kenya
- A little subtleness is better than a lot of force.