Africa is a continent rich in culture, history, and wisdom, often encapsulated in its timeless proverbs. African proverbs offer profound insights and reflections on various aspects of life, from perseverance and community to love and resilience.
These sayings, passed down through generations, carry the collective knowledge and experiences of diverse African societies. In this blog post, we delve into the best African proverbs about life, uncovering the universal truths and deep wisdom they hold.
Whether you seek inspiration, guidance, or a deeper understanding of life’s journey, these African proverbs will resonate with you, offering clarity and perspective in today’s fast-paced world.
Join us as we explore these gems of wisdom that continue to enlighten and inspire across cultures and ages.
Best African Proverbs About Life
- Those who want rain must also accept the mud.
2. The eyes do not carry the load but they know what the head can carry.
3. Those with tattered skirts should avoid dancing too close to the fire.
4. If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom.
5. Better little than too little.
6. Eat when the food is ready, speak when the time is right.
7. When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.
8. The elders of the village are the boundaries.
9. Lonely is one.
10. We should put out fire while it is still small.
11. No tattoo is made without blood.
12. Little by little the bird builds its nest.
13. A bridge is repaired only when someone falls into the water.
14. He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it.
15. Restless feet might walk you into a snake pit.
16. If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm.
17. He who loves, loves you with your dirt.
18. Don’t try to make someone hate the person he loves. For he will go on loving but he will hate you.
19. A wise person will always find a way.
20. Even the maid has a family.
21. Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters.
22. Home affairs are not talked about on the public square.
23. Coffee and love taste best when hot.
24. Once water has been spilled, it cannot be scooped back up.
25. No matter how good you are to a goat it will still eat your yam.
26. If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents.
27. If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy.
28. If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other.
29. He who cannot dance will say, ‘The drum is bad!’
30. A fully grown tree cannot be bent into a walking stick.
31. Peace is costly but it is worth the expense.
32. Advice is a stranger; if he’s welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day.
33. A bird that flies from the ground onto an anthill does not know that it is still on the ground.
34. When your neighbour’s horse falls into a pit, you should not rejoice at it, for your own child may fall into it too.
35. Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.
36. Once you carry your own water, you’ll remember every drop.
37. When you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes but the monkey remains.
38. Love for something makes a man blind and deaf.
39. Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand.
40. A real family eats from the same cornmeal.
41. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother.
42. It is hard to cure madness that originates in the family.
43. Don’t set out on a journey using someone else’s donkey.
44. The lizard had the tree in mind before challenging the dog to a fight.
45. By crawling a child learns to stand.
46. Rising early makes the road short.
47. Love is like a baby: it needs to be treated tenderly.
48. The good mother knows what her children will eat.
49. One camel does not make fun of the other camel’s hump.
50. It is the belly which daily gives thanks.
51. When the lion cannot find meat, it eats grass.
52. Love is a despot who spares no one.
53. Time destroys all things.
54. The sun never sets without fresh news.
55. Only a fool tests the depth of a river with no feet.
56. To try and to fail is not laziness.
57. When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.
58. Love doesn’t rely on physical features.
59. Just because the lizard nods his head, doesn’t mean he’s in agreement.
60. A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place.
61. Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.
62. A Person Is a Person Because of Other People.
63. If money were to be found up in the trees, most people would be married to monkeys.
64. If the one who stabbed forgets, the one who got stabbed never forgets.
65. Milk and honey have different colors, but they share the same house peacefully.
66. A single bracelet does not jingle.
67. Where there is no shame, there is no honor.
68. If you educate a man you educate one individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family.
69. However much it rains on you, no wild banana tree will grow on your head.
70. You cannot force water up a hill.
71. Other people’s wisdom prevents the king from being called a fool.
72. Words are sweet, but they never take the place of food.
73. The humble pay for the mistakes of their leaders.
74. No shortcuts exist to the top of a palm tree.
75. Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight.
76. Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands.
77. When one is in love, a mountain top becomes a flat field.
78. When you show the child the moon, it sees only your finger.
79. A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself.
80. A Woman Holds the Knife at the Sharp End.
81. Don’t be in a hurry to swallow when chewing is pleasant.
82. If you make friends with the boatman in the dry season, you will be the first to cross when the rains come and the tide is high.
83. He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace.
84. You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down.
85. Ingratitude is sooner or later fatal to its author.
86. One head alone does not go into council.
87. Only a medicine man gets rich by sleeping.
88. Even the fiercest leader in the world is overcome by sleep.
89. Even the Niger river must flow around an island.
90. He who does not seize opportunity today, will be unable to seize tomorrow’s opportunity.
91. When the powerful sit, they are none the weaker.
92. If you heal the leg of a person, do not be surprised if they use it to run away.
93. It is better to be loved than to be feared.
94. You know who you love but you can’t know who loves you.
95. A fool has to say something. A wise person has something to say.
96. In a family if you have somebody who is troublesome it’s the family members who are more worried than the troublesome member.
97. Family must look out for family.
98. Do not beat a drum with an axe.
99. When you carry maize, fowl become your friends.
100. If while climbing a tree you insist on going beyond the top, the earth will be waiting for you.
101. Children are the reward of life.
102. Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden.
103. A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea.
104. The night has ears.
105. An ox shits more than a hundred mosquitoes
106. The rhinoceros never dances with the monkey.
107. A boat cannot go forward if each rows his own way.
108. When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.
109. Having a good discussion is like having riches.
110. One who marries for love alone will have bad days but good nights.
111. One day in the life of a wise man is worth a fool’s entire life.
112. If I am in harmony with my family, that’s success.
113. The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth.
114. Look for a black goat while it is still daytime.
115. When you see a rat running into a fire then you know that what it is running away from is hotter than the fire.
116. Nobody is born wise.
117. Prepare now for the solutions of tomorrow.
118. He is a fool whose sheep runs away twice.
119. Do not allow the belly to make you useless.
120. Unity is the real thing.
121. A tree does not move unless there is wind.
122. A brave man dies once, a coward a thousand times.
123. When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope.
124. If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.
125. Don’t be so in love that you can’t tell when it’s raining.
126. Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others.
127. A wise person doesn’t fall down the same hill twice.
128. If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them?
129. Do not expect to be offered a chair when you are visiting a place where the chief sits on the floor.
130. A woman is never old when it comes to the dance she knows.
131. To get lost is to learn the way.
132. The elephant does not limp when walking on thorns.
133. If an arrow has not entered deeply, then its removal is not hard.
134. Rich people sometimes eat bad food.
135. A snake that you can see does not bite.
136. When the mother goat breaks into the yam store her kid watches her.
137. If a leader loves you, he makes sure you build your house on rock.
138. However long the night, the dawn will break.
139. One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.
140. Wisdom is wealth.
141. He who does not know one thing knows another.
142. He who earns calamity, eats it with his family.
143. Beware of the naked man who offers you clothes.
144. A rooster is not expected to crow for the whole world.
145. What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn.
146. When a strong man sends a message, he sends it with a weak man.
147. So many little things makes a man love a woman in a big way.
148. The stick in the hand kills the snake.
149. Learning expands great souls.
150. There can be no peace without understanding.
151. You cannot climb to the mountain top without crushing some weeds with your feet.
152. Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.
153. The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.
154. Give advice, if people don’t listen let adversity teach them.
155. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it.
156. Knowledge is a garden. If it isn’t cultivated, you can’t harvest it.
157. It is survival, not bravery that makes a man climb a thorny tree.
158. Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you.
159. He who learns, teaches.
160. Those who are born on top of the anthill take a short time to grow tall.
161. There’s no rainy season without mosquitoes.
162. An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend.
163. A crowd can easily overpower a bull.
164. Tomorrow belongs to people who prepare for it today.
165. Where there is love, there is no darkness.
166. Lovers do not hide their nakedness.
167. A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.
168. There Is No Beauty But the Beauty of Action.
169. If you want to improve your memory, lend someone money.
170. Gold should be sold to the one who knows the value of it.
171. The bee is the doctor of flowers.
172. If there were no elephant in the jungle, the buffalo would be a great animal.
173. The cow that bellows does so for all cows.
174. A person who has children does not die.
175. Even an ant can hurt an elephant.
176. All monkeys cannot hang from the same branch.
177. The earth is a beehive, we all enter by the same door.
178. A fool cannot untie the knot tied by a wise man.
179. A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle.
180. A child that does not cry will die in the carrier.
181. Once the millet has sprouted, it is not afraid of the weather.
182. When a king reigns, it is thanks to the people when a river sings, it is thanks to the stones.
183. What is bad luck for one man is good luck for another.
184. Glory does not come by calling.
185. The words of the elders become sweet some day.
186. The strong do not need clubs.
187. A roaring lion kills no game.
188. To love someone who doesn’t love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.
189. A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning.
190. It takes a village to raise a child.
191. Ask for a camel when you expect to get a goat.
192. Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs.
193. There are no shortcuts to the top of the palm tree.
194. An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
195. There is not such a thing in the world as a sheep of many colors.
196. If you think you have someone eating out of your hands, it is a good idea to count your fingers.
197. He who fears the sun will not become chief.
198. No person is born great. Great people become great when others are sleeping.
199. Love is a painkiller.
200. A united family eats from the same plate.
201. Hands Wash Each Other.
202. The hands that make mistakes belong to those who work.
203. A man’s wealth may be superior to him.
204. All heads are the same, but not all thoughts are the same.
205. To lead is not to run roughshod over people.
206. Other people’s wisdom prevents the king from being called a fool.
207. Water that has been begged for does not quench the thirst.
208. Do not call a dog with a whip in your hand.
209. In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges, and the foolish build dams.
210. The mother hen does not break its own eggs.
211. The day the monkey is destined to die all the trees get slippery.
212. He who doesn’t clean his mouth before breakfast always complains that the food is sour.
213. When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet.
214. Every door has its own key.
215. Leadership does not depend on age.
216. Do not forget what is to be a sailor because of being a captain yourself.
217. No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death.
218. Every kind of love is love, but self-love is supreme among them.
219. A small house will hold a hundred friends.
220. Even if the cock does not crow, the sun will rise.
221. No matter how big a child is, he cannot deny that he was once carried on the back of a woman.
222. Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.
223. Only someone else can scratch your back.
224. The big game often appears when the hunter has given up the hunt for the day.
225. Examine what is said, not who is speaking.
226. Love, like rain, does not choose the grass on which it falls.
227. We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings.
228. A Chattering Bird Builds No Nest.
229. Discord between the powerful is a fortune for the poor.
230. Those who are absent are always wrong.
231. Don’t fight a lion with a stick.
232. Being happy is better than being king.
233. When there is peace in the country, the chief does not carry a shield.
234. However far a stream flows, it doesn’t forget its origin.
235. Don’t meddle with a family feud.
236. The Child Who Is Not Embraced by the Village Will Burn It Down to Feel Its Warmth.
237. Family names are like flowers, they blossom in clusters.
238. Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem.
239. The stick of truth may be overstretched but truth will eventually prevail.
240. One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom.
241. If a blind man says he will throw a stone at you, he probably has his foot on one.
242. Wealth is like hair in the nose: it hurts to be separated whether from a little or from a lot.
243. A clever king is the brother of peace.
244. A feeble effort will not fulfill the self.
245. Your body is a temple of knowledge.
246. A wise man fills his brain before emptying his mouth.
247. Even the best dancer on the stage must retire sometime.
248. By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.
249. A little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing.
250. The jungle is stronger than the elephant.
251. When an old man dies, a library is burned with him.
252. No man can outwit their ancestors.
253. If a tree does not know how to dance, the wind will teach it.
254. What you learn is what you die with.
255. All monkeys cannot hang on the same branch.
256. If you damage the character of another, you damage your own.
257. No medicine exists that can cure hatred.
258. A happy man marries the girl he loves; a happier man loves the girl he married.
259. There is no fool who is disowned by his family.
260. Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off.
261. If we put a hammer in every person’s hand, could they all become blacksmiths?
262. Never marry a woman who has bigger feet than you.
263. If you want to know the end, look at the beginning.
264. If anyone makes you laugh, it is not always because they love you.
265. When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father’s estate.
266. He who loves the vase loves also what is inside.
267. A leader who does not take advice is not a leader.
268. The rain does not recognize anyone as a friend, it drenches all equally.
269. Don’t set sail on someone else’s star.
270. A man’s ruin lies in his tongue.
271. A person who sells eggs should not start a fight in the market.
272. The friends of our friends are our friends.
273. A canoe does not know who the leader is – when it turns over everyone gets wet.
274. The one nearest to the enemy is the real leader.
275. One who plants grapes by the roadside, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem.
276. You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock.
277. A tree cannot stand without roots.
278. Traveling is learning.
279. The chameleon looks in all directions before moving.
280. The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water.
281. Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors.
282. You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.
283. The betrothed of good is evil, the betrothed of life is death, the betrothed of love is divorce.
284. The axe forgets but the tree remembers.
285. Where there are many, nothing goes wrong.
286. In a caravan, it is the first camel who delays the rest; however the last one gets all the beatings.
287. Baboons do not go far from the place of their birth.
288. Wisdom does not come overnight.
289. If a woman doesn’t love you, she calls you “brother.
290. The frowning of a goat does not prevent it from being priced in the market.
291. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother.
292. Haste and hurry can only bear children with many regrets along the way.
293. Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family.
294. No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow.
295. In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams.
296. Love doesn’t listen to rumors.
297. Leading a race does not mean that you will win it.
298. When a fish rots, the head stinks first.
299. By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree.
300. When deed speaks, words are nothing.
301. The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat.
302. If you do not have patience you cannot make beer.
303. If a snake does not act like a snake, little children will use it to tie firewood.
304. Teeth do not see poverty.
305. Don’t think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm.
306. Two rams cannot drink from the same bucket at the same time.
307. One whose seeds have not sprouted does not give up planting.
308. If the full moon loves you, why worry about the stars?
309. Take good care of your neck; neck ornaments are not difficult to find.
310. Obstinacy does not redeem anyone.
311. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
312. Rain does not fall on one roof alone.
313. What has horns must not be hid in a sack.
314. Brothers love each other when they are equally rich.
315. One arrow can knock down an elephant.
316. The fool speaks, the wise man listens.
317. Even the lion protects himself against flies.
318. Fear no forest because it is dense.
319. Without a leader, black ants are confused.
320. One cannot stop sleeping because of a fear of bad dreams.
321. The key to a healthy body is a good head.
322. All errors are amendable.
323. He who digs a grave for his enemy might as well be digging one for himself.
324. Little by little grow the bananas.
325. Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly but flooding the river.
326. Where a woman rules, stream run uphill.
327. It is better to live as a lion for one day rather than 100 years as a sheep.
328. Supposing’ doesn’t fill the grain basket, ‘if’ doesn’t fill the larder.
329. Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.
330. A child is what you put into him.
331. The chameleon changes colour to match the earth, the earth doesn’t change colour to match the chameleon.
332. He who refuses to obey cannot command.
333. You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win.
334. When a bitter woman takes over the house, the family she rules is doomed.
335. A husband with a good wife will never be on the road without supplies.
336. If you educate a man, you educate one person. If you educate a woman, you educate a whole family.
337. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
338. The best way to eat an elephant in your path is to cut him up into little pieces.
339. An empty pot makes the loudest noise.
340. Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth.
341. The wise man never takes a step too long for his leg.
342. The roaring lion kills no prey.
343. It is not the cook’s fault when the cassava turns out to be hard and tasteless.
344. When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful.
345. He who thinks he is leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk.
346. Do not treat your loved one like a swinging door: you are fond of it but you push it back and forth.
347. The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.
348. Seeing is different than being told.
349. A Tree Is Bent While It Is Still Wet.
350. Do not look where you feel. Look where you slipped.
351. When the food is cooked there is no need to wait before eating it.