African Proverbs
African proverbs collected by country and tribe, with meanings where they have been written. 435 in the archive.
- The eye crosses the river before the body does.
- When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well but few will be ready to go down after it.Guinea
- Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together.Ghana
- If the fish comes out of the river to tell you that the crocodile has one eye, you should believe it.
- A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can harm a flea.Kenya
- When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.Ghana
- It is a fool who rejoices when his neighbor is in trouble.Ghana
- Fowls will not spare a cockroach that falls in their midst.Guinea
- The frown on the face of a goat will not stop it from being taken to the market.Nigeria
- God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to his heart.
- It is God who drives away flies for the tailless animal.Guinea
- If you go through the high grass where the elephant has already gone through, you don't get soaked with the dew.Ghana
- Good fortune will not happen to you; good fortune is given to he who seeks it.Egypt
- Great events may stem from words of no importance.
- Greed loses what it has gained.Sudan
- It is the habit that a child forms at home, that follows them to their marriage.Nigeria
- If the hare has outwitted the hunters today, tomorrow is still a hunting day.Nigeria
- Having beauty doesn't mean understanding the perseverance of marriage.
- He was entrapped by the evening, it has cost him his marriage.
- He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune.Nigeria
- He who cannot dance will say "the drum is bad".Ghana
- He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony.
- He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.
- He who does not cultivate his field will die of hunger.Guinea