| A baby on its mother’s back doesn’t know the journey is long.
2. A bachelor should always spend minimum time with a friend’s wife.
3. A bachelor’s wife doesn’t have ears.
4. A bad cook also has his/her share of the bad food.
5. A bad habit is like fire you can’t play with it and expect not to get burnt.
6. A barren woman is like a leaking pot.
7. A beautiful one hurts the heart.
8. A beggar’s knees are supple.
9. A bird doesn’t alert his fellow bird that a stone is coming.
10. A bird doesn’t forget one who killed off his feathers during the rain
season.
11. A bird may fly off the earth and land on an anthill, but it will still be on
the ground.
12. A bird that prays for rain will find its self soaked.
13. A bird with fire on its tail burns its own nest.
14. A blind person knows his environment more than a visitor with eyes.
15. A bottle that believes it’s cracked to smile it will end up on the dustbin.
16. A boy may cry; but a man as to conceal his pain.
17. A bush that doesn’t rotate baskets must not grow mushrooms.
18. A butterfly thinks itself a bird because it can fly.
19. A camel cannot see the crookedness of its neck.
20. A canoe peddler doesn’t tell the crocodile he has along snout until he’s
crossed the river.
21. A cat in its castle has a lion’s teeth.
22. A cat keeps its crawls inside until it meets a mouse.
23. A centipede is not crippled by the loss of one limb.
24. A chameleon can only change its colour but never change its skin.
25. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.
26. A child who knows how to wash his hands will eat with the chiefs.
27. A chief in the village never sees the devil.
28. A chief may have more wives than he can remember but you dare not try
to share his wives with him.
29. A chief should not create a new law when he is angry.
30. A child among elders converses with its ears.
31. A child can play with its mother’s breasts, but not its father’s testicles.
32. A child doesn’t belong to the father or mother; a child belongs to the
ancestors.
33. A child doesn’t breast-feed from a stepmother if its mother is still alive.
34. A child while bathing only scrubs its stomach.
35. A child who eats too much shouldn’t blame is buttock.
36. A child who is fearless is going to bring tears to his mother’s eyes.
37. A child who protested when being stripped on the back by its mother, it’s
humbled by the scorching sun when left to walk.
38. A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.
39. A clear conscience fears no accusation.
40. A cloudy sky doesn’t always cry rain.
41. A cock says it’s because of the situation it is faced with that it has its
knees in the opposite direction.
42. A corn swallowed by a fowl will never germinate in its belly.
43. A corpse doesn’t have time to cover its pubic region.
44. A cow without a tail should not try to chase away flies.
45. A coward always hides behind someone else after he has thrown a stone.
46. A cowardly hyena lives longer.
47. A dead body cannot urge over how it should be placed in the grave.
48. A dead cock never crows.
49. A debt may get mouldy but it never decays.
50. A determined hunter is never frightened in the jungle.
51. A diamond doesn’t lose its value due to lack of admiration.
52. A difficult journey will make you daring and harden your will.
53. A dirty stick makes everyone who touches it dirty.
54. A dog cannot eat a bone tied to a snake.
55. A dog gives birth to a dog.
56. A dog knows its master but not its master’s master.
57. A dog that belongs to every one will die of hunger.
58. A dog will defend its territory though it’s friendly.
59. A dog will not follow its owner to follow a king.
60. A dog you don’t feed will never heed your call.
61. A donkey’s husband can protect it from a hyena.
62. A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
63. A drunkard is like a whisky bottle only neck and belly but no head.
64. A fallen branch cannot bear fruits on its own.
65. A false friend is like a shadow their only with you when the sun is shining.
66. A family is like a thick forest, often from outside its dense, when your
inside each tree has its own position.
67. A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.
68. A father never resembles his son, it’s the son that resembles the father.
69. A father voodoos with his son and a mother voodoos with her daughter.
70. A fatherless boy is no better than unburied seed.
71. A feather is just a delicate thing when removed from a bird because it
carries the bird everywhere in the world.
72. A foot must never quarrel with the ground.
73. A fish and bird may fall in love but the two cannot build a home together.
74. A fish will not live out of water but will prefer air to hot water.
75. A fly that dances carelessly in front of a spider’s web, risks the wrath of
the spider’s teeth.
76. A fly that falls on your wound is more important.
77. A fool and his money is one big party.
78. A foolish head weakens the feet.
79. A foreign cock can never crow in a foreign country.
80. A friend is one who knows every thing about you and still wants to be your friend.
81. A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody.
- A friend who fawns is better than an enemy who smiles.
- A gentle politician doesn’t promise to build bridges where there is no
water.
- A genuine gift is like water when it flows out it can never return.
- A girl’s patience can only be recognised by how long she keeps her
virginity.
- A good beginning is a halfway a battle won.
- A good day shows itself early in the morning.
- A good devil is as equal as to a bad god.
- A good leader was once a good follower.
- A good man gone wrong is usually a bad man found out.
- A good man never stays in the grave forever, he always has chance to
come back.
- A good name is better than wealth.
- A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
- A good reputation is something you must pay for, but you can never buy.
- A good smile shows how happy the soul is.
- A grasshopper that sleeps about will be soon awake in a lizard’s mouth.
- A gravestone cannot be used for grinding.
- A green grass in the green snake.
- A guard dog cannot watch two homes at once.
100. A guest sees more in an hour than a host in a year.
- A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he
marries.
- A hen’s curses have never killed the eagle.
- A home without a woman is like a barn without a yam.
- A horse may take the warrior to the battlefield but can never fight.
- A house is for a voyage but a tomb is for eternity.
- A hungry calf cannot frisk happily over another with a full stomach.
- A hungry man will thrust his fingers into a snake’s hole in search of a
grasshopper.
108. A hunter who is never satisfied with is gain will one day be forced to carry
home an elephant.
- A hunter with one arrow doesn’t shoot with a careless aim.
- A husband may be the head of a home but the wife is the heart of a home.
- A hyena is used to persistent rains.
- A hypocrite’s hatred is hidden behind flattering words.
- A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
- A juicy bone is useless to a dog with no teeth.
- A king who doesn’t tolerate comments about his mouth shouldn’t eat in
public.
- A kinsman in trouble has to be saved, not blamed.
- A kola nut is small, but it is more important that it goes round to each
person and not that it fills the stomach.
- A lamb takes after its mother.
- A lazy chick that exposes itself will be a delicious meal for the eagle.
- A lazy man will remember he has not planted when is neighbour is
harvesting.
- A lazy man’s farm is the breeding ground for snakes.
- A leader is he who tells his people what they must hear, not what they
want to hear.
- A leopard is such an elusive animal that it can only be caught by the
combined force of a man and his father-in-law.
- A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is still putting
on its shoes.
- A lizard can’t be a snake even without its limbs.
- A lizard longs to sit down but its tail doesn’t let it.
- A lizard without one leg cannot move up a tree.
- A long lasting visitor grinds the wine.
- A long-tailed animal doesn’t jump over fire.
- A man accused of stealing a goat should not entertain his visitors with
goats meat.
- A man and a goat can be friends but it would be foolishness for the goat to
pay the first visit.
- A man can’t challenge his spirit in a wrestling match.
- A man doesn’t escape from bees with a lump of honey in his hand.
- A man doesn’t know when he kills.
- A man gets to the land of spirits when he passes seven rivers, seven forests
and seven hills.
- A man has to hold his mouth open a long time before a roasted partridge
flies into it.
- A man is always on the move.
- A man is called a drunkard when he misbehaves, not when he drinks.
- A man is not a man until he has a house of his own.
- A man is obliged to beat his own chest when he has no drum.
- A man is taller than every mountain he climbs.
- A man isn’t dead until is buried.
- A man must suffer in silence.
- A man never grows up until his father dies.
- A man should live to prove himself worth of his own flesh and blood.
- A man should not be too happy in the morning.
- A man should not, out of pride and etiquette, swallow his phlegm.
- A man who after his dying speech doesn’t die, bears the same guilt.
- A man who does no hard work will never know the value of rest.
- A man who doesn’t know how to play sex disappears after the first time.
- A man who hides a thorn in his foot earns a swelling.
- A man who is patient is rewarded.
- A man who is putting on his armour for war should not boast like a man
who’s taking it off.
- A man who lives on the banks of the river should not wash his hands with
spittle.
- A man who marries an outcast is like rain wasted in the forest.
- A man who never recognises is mistakes will never know peace.
- A man who smiles when he’s been robbed has stolen something from the
thief.
- A man who touches the bottom of a soup plate with a ball of foofoo is no
longer searching for soup.
- A man will never heed the voice of a woman until it is too late.
- A man will show his true colours in adversity.
- A man with a good will is not only rich but also wise.
- A man’s in-law is his spirit.
- A million of keys will get into a lock but only one will open it.
- A moonlight has a bottom.
- A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself.
- A mother of twin should have impartial breasts.
- A mouse does not share a bowl with a cat.
- A new broom sweeps well, but the old broom knows all the corners.
- A newly committed crime awakens sleeping ones.
- A nice place is never yours.
- A palm wine taper does not stop tapping palm wine because he once fell
from the top of a palm wine tree.
- A parent should not give up modelling their children because the ancestors
too never give up on us.
- A parent who says ‘if you were my own child I would have punished you’
is a witch.
- A patient dually determined can fill a pot with water using a fingernail.
- A person cutting the path doesn’t know that it is crooked.
- A person is a person because of other people.
- A person is what he eats.
- A person who has not secured a place on the floor should not begin to look
for a mat.
- A person who is always looking at the sky will never discover anything on
the ground.
- A person who is carrying an elephant on his head should not use his feet to
tap snails on the ground.
- A person who is stung by a bee fears a big housefly.
- A person who sells eggs doesn’t start a fight in the market.
- A person who wants to see is people progress must first set to look into
their tradition.
- A person’s character is like pregnancy it cannot be hidden.
- A person’s cleverness is not shown by how many words he utters at once
but how he utters them.
- A picture is worth a thousand words.
- A poor person has no struggles.
- A potter eats from a broken piece of his pots.
- A pregnant woman cannot claim to be a virgin.
- A rat never goes near a cat’s celebration venue.
- A rat stinks, but it has its own home.
- A rat with many offspring always sleeps with his door open.
- A regular fighter who discords peace is bound to be fought by his own
anger.
- A restless grasshopper eventually ends up in a birds teeth.
- A river doesn’t flow through the forest without felling the trees.
- A river doesn’t run straight because there was nobody to advise it.
- A river that forgets its source will soon dry out.
- A rock in the middle of the sea is never afraid of the rain.
- A ruined people are as miserable as a dog in the house of death.
- A satisfied man doesn’t understand the feeling of a hungry man.
- A scared dog barks to pretend to its master but a brave dog bits to protect
him.
- A second wife cannot celebrate the beating of the first wife because that
same beating awaits her when the third wife arrives.
- A secret remains a secret only when one person knows it.
- A severely under paid hungry teacher in a renovated, well-equipped
classroom, can perform just as well as a bird without feathers can do in a
hanging, decorated cage.
- A short man is not a boy.
- A short person touches where he can reach.
- A short rope ties nothing.
- A sick way between two people can only be cared for if the two of them
die.
- A sin against a brother or sister is an offence against the gods.
- A single slip may cause lasting injury.
- A slave must be humble.
- A sleeping head needs more than its neck to support it.
- A snail that doesn’t crawl with its shell should be ready to die.
- A snake and millipede can both craw on their bellies but this doesn’t make
them brothers.
- A snake can shade its skin but it still remains a snake.
- A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap.
- A spiritual leader is able to see the past, present and the future.
- A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.
- A stealing dog strengthens its back.
- A stick at the neighbours cannot drive out a leopard at your home.
- A strong man never stays long in the ground.
- A strong person doesn’t rush to wake up early morning.
- A strong tree shall always grow from the roots and not the seeds.
- A sweet lovely voice cannot make a dumb person talk.
- A talkative person is a traveller when he is tired, he keeps quiet.
- A thorn under a baobab tree pricks deeper.
- A tree cannot stand on the ground without its roots.
- A tree climber begins from the bottom not the top.
- A tree is known by its fruit.
- A tree that refuses to dance will be made to do so by the wind.
- A true friend is a special gift.
- A village without the elderly is like a well without water.
- A visitor doesn’t survive from a stick beat of a burglar.
- A warrior is not a wrestler, he’s killed the moment is spear and shield are
over powered.
- A weird child at times brings sweet fruits at home.
- A whisper has more meaning than a noisy talk.
- A white tooth has a bloody root.
- A wind can move the branches of trees but it will never move the head of
a man.
- A wise person must know the language, sayings, and tales of his society.
- A wise saying goes without say.
- A wise will is dedicated to the ancestors for its them who gave you
everything’
- A woman is like a bee treat her well and she will make honey, treat her
badly and she will go wild.
- A woman is never old when it comes to the dance she knows.
- A woman who delivers a baby in the market square has nothing to hide.
- A woman who pursues a man for sex looses her spiritual beauty.
- A woman who runs holding her breast has got nothing pursuing her.
- A woman who wants a child doesn’t sleep in her clothes.
- A woman’s polite devotion is her greatest beauty.
- A word to the wise is enough.
- A word written stays forever than hundred spoken work.
- A worm cannot kill a fly.
- A wound given by a word is many times harder to cure than that which is
given by the sword.
- After the evil cross the crown has come.
- All great truths begins as blasphemies.
- All is well that ends well.
- All plants are our brothers and sisters and they talk to us and if we listen
we can hear them.
- All war follow a demonstrate failure of difficulty diplomacy.
- Almost everyone is mad but some people can control there madness.
- Always stamp your hunting nets where the animal is going to pass.
- An animal that gives birth to a young one in the desert must suckle it in
the desert.
- An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a
sheep.
- An egg shouldn’t be deceived by the hardness of its shell; it cannot
challenge a stone in a fight.
- An elder uses old eyes to see and so the young use young eyes.
- An elephant cannot thin to a cow size.
- An elephant that kills a rat cannot be considered a hero.
- An empty hand doesn’t kill a snake.
- An empty sack cannot stand.
- An endless war shames even a hero.
- An immoral father-in-law cannot advise his children well.
- An insolent tongue is a bad weapon.
- An invasion of an army can be resisted but an invasion of ideas can’t be
resisted.
- An old man may miss his target with a stone but never with his word.
- An old man’s mouth produces a bad smell but the words that come out of
it are sweet.
- An only palm-fruit doesn’t get lost in the fire.
- An open mind only hurts those who fear their own mistakes.
- Anger against a brother is felt in the flesh, not in the bone.
- Any dead fish can flow down the river but it takes a live one to swim back
up stream.
- Any weapon is dangerous even to a person handling it.
- Anyone can be polite to a king, but it takes a gentleman to be polite to a
beggar.
- Anyone suffering from a running stomach is never afraid of the dark.
- Anyone who has sold an old lady, knows the price of an old man.
- Anything with a beginning also has an end.
- As long as a cock lives, it is said to have belonged to the child of the
house; but when it is slaughtered for super, it is then that the real owner
emerges.
- As long as I make you to be inferior, I render myself inferior.
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