When darkness engulfs our lives, proverbs work like a beacon of light. While wise sayings are common in every culture, African Proverbs are famous worldwide. They convey wisdom, truth, the discovery of ideas, and important life lessons.
Whether you are – stuck with decision-making, trouble with work or relationships issues, trying to make peace with your past, preparing to let go of something unpleasant or welcome new changes, seeking answers for life’s deepest questions or looking for a heavy dose of motivation to fight challenges – these African proverbs will change your life.
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This post brings to you African proverbs on wisdom, learning, peace, leadership, unity, community, money, rich, poverty, wealth, beauty, love, marriage, food, patience, friendship, and family. These proverbs have the power to enlighten your thinking, change your perspective towards life and inspire you to greatness.
Here you go…..
African Proverbs on Wisdom
1. Wisdom is wealth. ~ Swahili
2. Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. ~ Akan proverb
3. The fool speaks, the wise man listens. ~ Ethiopian proverb
4. Wisdom does not come overnight. ~ Somali proverb
5. The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water. ~ Cameroon proverb
6. Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others. ~ Hema (DRC) proverb
7. Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem. ~ Akan proverb
8. Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean proverb
9. In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges, and the foolish build dams. ~ Nigerian proverb
10. If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom. ~ African proverb
11. A wise person will always find a way. ~ Tanzanian proverb
12. Nobody is born wise. ~ African proverb
13. A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning. ~ Kenyan proverb
14. Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. ~ Akan proverb
African Proverbs on Learning
15. Learning expands great souls. ~ Namibian proverb
16. To get lost is to learn the way. ~ African proverb
17. By crawling a child learns to stand. ~ African proverb
18. If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents. ~ African proverb
19. He who learns, teaches. ~ Ethiopian proverb
20. Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases. ~ Swahili proverb
21. By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree. ~ Buganda proverb
22. You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. ~ African proverb
23. You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down. ~ Bateke proverb
24. The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat. ~ African proverb
25. What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. ~ African proverb
26. By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed. ~ Ashanti proverb
27. One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. ~ African proverb
28. You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. ~ Congolese proverb
29. What you learn is what you die with. ~ African proverb
30. Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone. ~ Moroccan Proverb
31. When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him. ~ Ashanti Proverb
32. Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off. ~ African Proverb
33. Advice is a stranger; if he’s welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day. ~ Malagasy Proverb
34. Traveling is learning. ~ Kenyan Proverb
35. Where there are experts there will be no lack of learners. ~ Swahili Proverb
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African Proverbs on Peace and Leadership
36. Peace is costly but it is worth the expense. ~ Kenyan proverb
37. War has no eyes ~ Swahili saying
38. When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful. ~ Ashanti proverb
39. Peace does not make a good ruler. ~ Botswana proverb
40. A fight between grasshoppers is a joy to the crow. ~ Lesotho proverb
41. There can be no peace without understanding. ~ Senegalese proverb
42. Milk and honey have different colors, but they share the same house peacefully. ~ African proverb
43. If you can’t resolve your problems in peace, you can’t solve war. ~ Somalian proverb
44. When there is peace in the country, the chief does not carry a shield. ~ Ugandan proverb
45. When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled. ~ Swahili saying
46. Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. ~ West African proverb
47. He who thinks he is leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk. ~ Malawian proverb
48. An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. ~ Ghanaian proverb
49. He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it. ~ Ugandan proverb
50. Do not forget what is to be a sailor because of being a captain yourself. ~ Tanzanian proverb
51. Without a leader, black ants are confused. ~ Ugandan proverb
52. He who refuses to obey cannot command. ~ Kenyan proverb
53. He who fears the sun will not become chief. ~ Ugandan proverb
54. A large chair does not make a king. ~ Sudanese proverb
55. Because he lost his reputation, he lost a kingdom. ~ Ethiopian proverb
56. Where a woman rules, streams run uphill. ~ Ethiopian proverb
57. A leader who does not take advice is not a leader. ~ Kenyan proverb
58. If the cockroach wants to rule over the chicken, then it must hire the fox as a body-guard. ~ Sierra Leone proverb
African Proverbs on Unity and Community
59. Unity is strength, the division is weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
60. Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~ Bondei proverb
61. It takes a village to raise a child. ~ African proverb
62. Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
63. Many hands make light work. ~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb
64. Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
65. Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb
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66. A single bracelet does not jingle. ~ Congolese proverb
67. A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. ~ African proverb
68. If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb
African Proverbs on Family
69. 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. ~ African Proverb
70. A united family eats from the same plate. ~ Baganda proverb
71. A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. ~ African proverb
72. If I am in harmony with my family, that’s a success. ~ Ute proverb
73. Brothers love each other when they are equally rich. ~ African proverb
74. Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
75. There is no fool who is disowned by his family. ~ African proverb
76. Home affairs are not talked about in the public square. ~ African proverb
77. If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them? ~ African proverb
78. He who earns calamity eats it with his family. ~ African proverb
79. . 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. ~ Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast) proverb
80. When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father’s estate. ~ Ibo proverb
81. Children are the reward of life. ~ African proverb
African Proverbs on Friendship
82. To be without a friend is to be poor indeed. ~ Tanzanian proverb
83. Hold a true friend with both hands. ~ African proverb
84. The friends of our friends are our friends. ~ Congolese proverb
85. A friend is someone you share the path with. ~ African proverb
86. Show me your friend and I will show you your character. ~ African proverb
87. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. ~ African proverb
88. Between true friends, even water drunk together is sweet enough. ~ African proverb
89. A small house will hold a hundred friends. ~ African proverb
90. A close friend can become a close enemy.~ African proverb
91. Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. ~ Gabon proverb
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African Proverbs on Money, Wealth, Riches and Poverty
92. Make some money but don’t let money make you. ~ Tanzania
93. It is no shame at all to work for money. ~ Africa
94. He who loves money must labor. ~ Mauritania
95. By labor comes wealth. ~ Yoruba
96. Poverty is slavery. ~ Somalia
97. One cannot both feast and become rich. ~ Ashanti
98. One cannot count on riches. ~ Somalia
99. Money is sharper than the sword. ~ Ashanti
100. A man’s wealth may be superior to him. ~ Cameroon
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101. The rich are always complaining. ~ Zulu
102. The wealth which enslaves the owner isn’t wealth. ~ Yoruba
103. The poor man and the rich man do not play together. ~ Ashanti
104. Lack of money is a lack of friends; if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be related to you. ~ Yoruba
105. With wealth one wins a woman. ~ Uganda
106. Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan
107. A real family eats the same cornmeal. ~ Bayombe
108. If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Congo
109. Money can’t talk, yet it can make lies look true. ~ South Africa
110. Money is not the medicine against death. ~ Ghana
111. He who receives a gift does not measure. ~ Africa
112. Much wealth brings many enemies. – Swahili
113. There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast. ~ Ethiopia
114. What you give you get, ten times over. ~ Yoruba
115. Greed loses what it has gained. ~ Africa
116. You become wise when you begin to run out of money. ~ Ghana
117. If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. ~ Ghana
118. You should not hoard your money and die of hunger. ~ Ghana
119. Wealth diminishes with usage; learning increases with use. ~ Nigeria
120. Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. ~ Akan
121. Having a good discussion is like having riches ~ Kenya
122. Knowledge is better than riches. ~ Cameroon
123. You must act as if it is impossible to fail. ~ Ashanti
124. Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can. ~ Ashanti
African Proverbs on Beauty
125. One who plants grapes by the roadside, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
126. Beautiful from behind, ugly in front. ~ Uganda Proverb
127. The skin of the leopard is beautiful, but not his heart. ~ Baluba proverb
128. Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty. ~ Nigerian Proverb
129. A beautiful one hurts the heart. ~ African Proverb
130. Anyone who sees beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor. ~ Yoruba Proverb
131. The surface of the water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on. ~ Ghanaian Proverb
132. If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~ Nigerian Proverb
133. You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~ Congolese Proverb
134. The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~ Ganda Proverb
135. Having beauty doesn’t mean understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~ African Proverb
136. You are beautiful because of your possessions. ~ Baguirmi Proverb
137. Every woman is beautiful until she speaks. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
138. Three things cause sorrow to flee; water, green trees, and a beautiful face. ~ Moroccan Proverb
139. A beautiful thing is never perfect. ~ Egyptian Proverb
140. Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~ Bantu Proverb
141. There is no beauty but the beauty of action. ~ Moroccan Proverb
142. Judge not your beauty by the number of people who look at you, but rather by the number of people who smile at you. ~ African Proverb
143. A pretty face and fine clothes do not make the character. ~ Congolese Proverb
144. Youth is beauty, even in cattle. ~ Egyptian Proverb
145. A pretty basket does not prevent worries. ~ Congolese Proverb
146. It’s those ugly caterpillars that turn into beautiful butterflies after seasons. ~ African Proverb
147. The most beautiful fig may contain a worm. ~ Zulu Proverb
148. It is only a stupid cow that rejoices at the prospect of being taken to a beautiful abattoir. ~ African Proverb
149. A woman who pursues a man for sex loses her spiritual beauty. ~ African Proverb
150. A chicken with beautiful plumage does not sit in a corner. ~ African Proverb
151. The cook does not have to be a beautiful woman. ~ Shona Proverb
152. Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot. ~ Botswana Proverb
153. She is beautiful; she has love, understands; she respects herself and others; everyone likes loves, and honors her; she is a goddess. ~ African Proverb
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154. There is always a winner even in a monkey’s beauty contest. ~ African Proverb
155. Dress up a stick and it’ll be a beautiful bride. ~ Egyptian Proverb
156. An ugly child of your own is more to you than a beautiful one belonging to your neighbor. ~ Ganda Proverb
157. Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival not beauty. ~ African Proverb
158. Beautiful discourse is rarer than emerald, yet it can be found among the servant girls at the grindstones. ~ Egyptian Proverb
159. When a once-beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa master weavers. ~ Igbo Proverb
160. A woman’s polite devotion is her greatest beauty. ~ African Proverb
161. There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns. ~ African Proverb
162. He who marries a beauty marries trouble. ~ Nigerian Proverb
163. Despite the beauty of the moon, sun, and the stars, the sky also has a threatening thunder and striking lightning. ~ African Proverb
164. Getting only a beautiful woman is like planting a vine on the roadside everyone feeds on it. ~ African Proverb
165. Greatness and beauty do not belong to the gods alone. ~ Nigerian Proverb
166. Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~ Malagasy Proverb
167. Beauty is not sold and eaten. ~ Nigerian Proverb
168. She is like a road – pretty, but crooked. ~ Cameroonian Proverb
169. Why they like an ugly person takes long for a beautiful person to know. ~ African Proverb
170. If you find “Miss This Year” beautiful, then you’ll find “Miss Next Year” even more so. ~ Nigerian Proverb
171. The beauty of a woman becomes useless if there is no one to admire it. ~ African Proverb
African Proverbs On Love And Marriage
172. He who loves the vase loves also what is inside. ~ African proverb
173. It’s much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. ~ African proverb
174. Coffee and love taste best when hot. ~ Ethiopian proverb
175. Where there is love there is no darkness. ~ Burundian proverb
176. If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
177. Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you. ~ African proverb
178. To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better. ~ Wolof proverb
179. A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb
180. If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb
181. Love never gets lost, it’s only kept. ~ African proverb
182. Never marry a woman who has bigger feet than you. ~ Mozambique proverb
183. One thread for the needle, one love for the heart. ~ Sudanese proverb
184. Love has to be shown by deeds not words. ~ Swahili proverb
185. Love is a despot who spares no one. ~ Namibian proverb
186. Marriage is like a groundnut; you have to crack it to see what is inside. ~ Ghanaian proverb
African Proverbs on Patience
187. Patience is the key that solves all problems. ~ Sudanese proverb
188. Hurry, hurry has no blessings. ~ Swahili proverb
189. Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~ Bantu proverb
190. To run is not necessarily to arrive. ~ Swahili proverb
191. Patience can cook a stone. ~ African proverb
192. A patient man will eat ripe fruit. ~ African proverb
193. At the bottom of patience, one finds heaven. ~ African proverb
194. A patient person never misses a thing. ~ Swahili proverb
195. Patience puts a crown on the head. ~ Ugandan proverb
196. Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which is far. ~ Swahili proverb
197. Always being in a hurry does not prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. ~ Ibo proverb
198. However long the night, the dawn will break. ~ African proverb (personal favorite!)
African Proverbs on Food
199. As porridge benefits those who heat and eat it, so does a child benefit those that rear it. ~Amharic Proverb
200. The forest not only hides man’s enemies but it’s full of man’s medicine, healing power, and food. ~ African Proverb
201. One person is a thin porridge; two or three people are a lump of ugali. ~ Kuria Proverb
202. The man who counts the bits of food he swallows is never satisfied. ~ African Proverb
203. Wine, women, and food give gladness to the heart. ~ Ancient Egyptian Proverb
204. The food that is in the mouth is not yet in the belly. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
205. You cannot work for food when there is no food for work. ~ African Proverb
206. The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry. ~ Bayombe Proverb
207. He who eats another man’s food will have his own food eaten by others. ~ Swahili Proverb
208. Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with gravel in his mouth. ~ African Proverb
209. No partridge scratches the ground in search of food for another. ~ Xhosa Proverb
210. The grasshopper which is always near its mother eats the best food. ~ Ghanaian Proverb
211. Don’t take another mouthful before you have swallowed what is in your mouth. ~ Malagasy Proverb
212. Rich people sometimes eat bad food. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
213. The impotent man does not eat spicy foods. ~ Congolese Proverb
214. You should know what’s being cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat the forbidden food. ~ African Proverb
215. When the leg does not walk, the stomach does not eat. ~ Mongo (Congolese) Proverb
216. A healthy person who begs for food is an insult to a generous farmer. ~ Ghanaian Proverb
217. One spoon of soup in need has more value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food. ~ Angolan Proverb
218. Cooked food is not sold for goats. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
219. The mouth is stupid after eating it forgets who gave it the food. ~ African Proverb
220. A dog knows the places he is thrown at food. ~ Acholi Proverb
221. One who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others. ~ African Proverb
222. Words are sweet, but they never take the place of food. ~ Ibo Proverb
223. The man who has bread to eat does not appreciate the severity of a famine. ~ Yoruba Proverb
224. He who doesn’t clean his mouth before breakfast always complains that the food is sour. ~ African Proverb
225. The hyena with a cub does not consume all the available food. ~ Akamba Proverb
226. When the food is cooked there is no need to wait before eating it. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
227. What one won’t eat by itself, one will eat when mixed with other food. ~ Bantu & Lamba Proverb
228. Man is like a pepper, till you have chewed it you do not know how hot it is. ~ Haussa Proverb
229. No one gets a mouthful of food by picking between another person’s teeth. ~ Igbo Proverb
230. It is not the cook’s fault when the cassava turns out to be hard and tasteless. ~ Ewe Proverb
231. A housewife who complains that there is not enough foodstuff in the market should remember that if her husband adds to what is already available, there would be more for everyone. ~ Nigerian Proverb
232. A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. ~African Proverb
If you watch your pot, your food will not burn. ~ Mauritanian, Nigerian, and Niger Proverb
233. Those who are at one regarding food are at one in life. ~ Malawian Proverb
234. Fine words do not produce food. ~ Nigerian Proverb
235. Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. ~ African Proverb
236. If I could see your face, I would not need food. ~ Amharic Proverb
237. If you find no fish, you have to eat bread. ~ Ghanaian Proverb
238. War is not porridge. ~ Gikuyu Proverb
239. The best of mankind is a farmer; the best food is fruit. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
240. Slowly, slowly, porridge goes into the gourd. ~ Kuria People of Kenya & Tanzania
241. One shares food, not words. ~ Somali Proverb
242. If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full. ~ South African Proverb
243. Nature gave us two cheeks instead of one to make it easier to eat hot food. ~ Ghanaian Proverb
244. A patient that can swallow food makes the nurse doubtful. ~ Malagasy Proverb
245. If you give bad food to your stomach, it drums for you to dance. ~ African Proverb
246. A bad cook also has his/her share of the bad food. ~ African Proverb
247. The forest provides food to the hunter after he is utterly exhausted. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
248. Things are to be tried, an old lady cooked stones and they produced soup. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
249. You cannot tell a hungry child that you gave him food yesterday. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
250. Good music goes with good food. ~ African Proverb
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251. Rich people cook their food in a potsherd. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
252. However little food we have, we’ll share it even if it’s only one locust. ~ Malagasy Proverb
253. Water is colorless and tasteless but you can live on it longer than eating food. ~ African Proverb
254. Eat when the food is ready; speak when the time is right. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
255. The food eaten first lasts longest in the stomach. ~ Kikuyu Proverb
256. When your luck deserts you, even cold food burns. ~ Zambian Proverb
257. Happiness is as good as the food. ~ Maasai Proverb
258. Good words are food, bad words poison. ~ Malagasy Proverb
259. The goat says: “Where there is blood, there is plenty of food.” ~ Ghanaian Proverb
260. If you see a man in a gown eating with a man in rags, the food belongs to the latter. ~ Fulani Proverb
261. They ate our food and forgot our names. ~ Tunisian Proverb
262. An abundance of food at your neighbour’s will not satisfy your hunger. ~ Bayaka Proverb
263. The food you will not eat you do not boil. ~ African Proverb
So, there you go. These are all the noteworthy African proverbs there is. Let us know in the comments down below which ones were your favorites!
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