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AFRICAN
PROVERBS
A
barber does not shave himself.
A
chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.
A
child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his
palm.
A
comb becomes bad when it hurts you.
A
cutting word is worse than a bowstring, a cut may heal, but the cut of the tongue does
not.
A
fool looks for dung where the cow never browsed.
A
fool may chance to put something into a wise man's head.
A
proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its
pride.
A
stranger has big eyes but sees nothing.
A
stream cannot rise above its source.
A
weapon which you don't have in your hand won't kill a snake.
Ashes
fly back into the face of him who throws them.
Before
shooting, one must aim.
Confiding
a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole.
Do
not call to a dog with a whip in your hand.
Don't
set sail on someone else's star.
For
tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
He
who is being carried does not realize how far the town is.
He
who is born a fool is never cured.
He
who learns, teaches.
He
who talks incessantly, talks nonsense.
If
a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.
If
you climb up a tree, you must climb down the same tree.
If
you don't stand for something, you will fall for something.
If
you don't work you shan't eat.
If
you refuse to be made straight when you are green, you will not be made straight when you
are dry.
If
you run after two hares you will catch neither.
If
you're going home, you don't get wet.
If
you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
If
your mouth turns into a knife, it will cut off your lips.
It
is not what you are called, but what you answer to.
It
is not with saying, "Honey," "Honey," that sweetness will come into
the mouth.
It
is not work that kills, but worry.
It's
a bad child who does not take advice.
One
must talk little and listen much.
Peace
is costly but it is worth the expense.
Quarrels
end, but words once spoken never die.
Return
to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you.
Seeing
is better than hearing.
Seeing
is different than being told.
Send
a boy where he wants to go and you see his best pace.
Smooth
seas do not make skillful sailors.
The
day the monkey is destined to die, all the trees get slippery.
The
egg shows the hen where to hatch.
The
end of an ox is beef, and the end of a lie is grief.
The
fool speaks, the wise man listens.
The
fool sucks wisdom, as he porter sups, And cobblers grow fine speakers in their cups.
The
lion does not turn around when a small dog barks.
To
try and to fail is not laziness.
Two
birds disputed about a kernel, when a third swooped down and carried it off.