African Proverbs

TIMES INT'L

Proverbs are an integral part of African culture, notes the BBC. Passed on from generation to generation for centuries, they are still in wide use today and are very much part of everyday speech.
Proverbs are used to illustrate ideas, reinforce arguments and deliver messages of inspiration, consolation, celebration and advice.
The great Nigerian author Chinua Achebe once wrote: “Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten.”
Here are a few proverbs to ponder on:


“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable” – (Kenya)
“Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight” – (Ashanti)
“Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot” – (Botswana)
“Rain beats a leopard’s skin but doesn’t wash off the spots” – (Ashanti)
“Don’t sweep another’s house whilst your own is dirty” – (Kenya)
“You can wash the basket in the stream but you can’t carry water home with it” – (Nigeria)
“A skunk does not smell itself” – (Xhosa/Ndebele)
“Make some money but don’t let money make you” – (Tanzania)
“If you lift yourself up, that’s better than if others lift you up” – (Bantu)
“Someone with more firewood than you also has more ash than you” – (Kenya)
“Sheep wander together but have different prices” – (Ivory Coast)
“Never mind if your nose is ugly as long as you can breathe through it” – (Zaire)
“A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning” – (Kenya)
“Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases” – (Swahili)
“Marriage is like a groundnut; you have to crack it to see what is inside” – (Ghana)
“War has no eyes” – (Swahili)
“A single bracelet does not jingle” – (Congo)
“Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends” – (Gabon)
“By labour comes wealth” – (Yoruba)
“One cannot both feast and become rich” – (Ashanti)
“If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness” – (Nigeria)

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