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AWESOME AFRICAN PROVERBS

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AWESOME AFRICAN PROVERBS
Throughout time immemorial, proverbs have been used to entertain, educate and give lessons among other uses in almost all communities. Africa is home to a diverse number of tribes and consequently on of the greatest collections of awesome proverbs.
Some of them provoke thought as much as they provoke laughter. Most if not all have relay invaluable moral lessons whom its told to. Here are some of them from some of the major tribes of Africa just loosely translated. Literally taken they may be witty. Carefully analyzed, they are priceless!


IGBO OF WEST AFRICA

  •    One who is accused of poisoning should not show off his skill in sorcery. (He who is suspected of poison should not do magic.)
  • The old woman who says that she will not run-- if the goat takes her smoking equipment, she will be forced to run. (An old woman who dreads running runs by force when the goat takes her tobacco container.)
  •  One who used a chicken at his mother's funeral [used a chicken to bury his mother] did according to his ability. (He who buried his mother with a fowl, did as he could afford.)
  • One who plants yams on his knees and ties them on his mustache does what pleases him. (He who plants yams on the knees and ties them on his moustache does what he likes.)
  • If one is in a state of poverty and starts trouble, he regrets it when he becomes wealthy. (Evil done in poverty is regretted in prosperity.
      

THE KIKUYU OF KENYA
  •      The quality of a home is only known by its resident
  •     One who doesnt travels their mother is the best cook.
  •    A beautiful girl passes by the poor man's home. 
  •     The prospective initiates may take the initiation bath yet fail to go    through the initiation.

  • The warrior may be tripped over even by a maize cob
  






  THE ZULU OF SOUTHAFRICA


  • Abundance does not spread; famine does..
  •    Almost is not eaten
  •     Blessed  are those who can please themselves.. Zulu Proverb. Blessed are those who can please themselves.
  •     Copying  everybody else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.. Zulu Proverb. Copying everybody else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.
  •      Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.. Zulu Proverb. Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.
  •     Darkness conceals the hippopotamus.. Zulu Proverb. Darkness conceals the hippopotamus.
  •   Death has no modesty. Death has no modesty.


SHONA

 


  • It is only the ground that knows a baby mouse is sick.
  •    Men, the burning of a beard is the extinguishing of each others beard.
  • Laugh at a cripple when you are dead.
  • That which has horns is not concealed in a bundle of grass.
  •   One courting bows down and raises his head when married.



YORUBA(NIGERIA)

·       

  •   A man with sweet food before him can not understand the bitterness of famine.
  •   Even if the youth has as many clothes as his father, he has not worn so many out.
  •    However far a stream flows, it never forgets its origin.
  • No God is more demanding than your stomach – it requires a sacrifice every day.
  • One who defames another's character, also defames their own.

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