150 Inspirational African Proverbs

Today we share with you 150 inspirational African proverbs. African proverbs have lasted throughout history. Grandparents passed them down to parents, then parents passed them down to kids. Proverbs carry lessons about life, relationships, and the world. Below, we list a few of the many African proverbs from around the continent. All countries across the African continent, from South Africa in the south to Morocco and Egypt in the north.

150 Inspirational African Proverbs

1. “Even an ant can hurt an elephant.” – African Proverb
2. “Examine what is said, not him who speaks.” – African Proverb
3. “You must judge a man by the work of his hands.” – African Proverb
4. “Once you carry your own water, you will learn the value of every drop.” – African Proverb
5. “Haste and hurry can only bear children with many regrets along the way.” – African Proverb
6. “An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.” – African Proverb
7. “There are no shortcuts to the top of the palm tree.” – African Proverb
8. “A fully grown up tree cannot bent into a walking stick.” – African Proverb
9. “One camel does not make fun of the other camel’s hump.” – African Proverb
10. “If you educate a man you educate one individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family.” – African Proverb
11. “No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow.” – African Proverb
12. “The big game often appears when the hunter has given up the hunt for the day.” – African Proverbs
13. “Supposing doesn’t fill the grain basket ‘if’ doesn’t fill the larder.” – African Proverb
14. “All monkeys cannot hang on the same branch.” – African Proverb
15. “Looking at a king’s mouth one would never think he sucked his mother’s breast.” – African Proverb
16. “The mouth is stupid after eating it forgets who gave it the food.” – African Proverb
17. “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that is trampled.” – African Proverb
18. “Money is not the medicine against death.” – African Proverb
19. “War has no eyes.” – African Proverbs
20. “You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty.” – African Proverb
21. “A large chair does not make a king.” – African Proverb
22. “A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.” – African Proverb
23. “A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm.” – African Proverb
24. “Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.” – African Proverb
25. “If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.” – African Proverb
26. “A man’s grave is by the roadside.” – African Proverb
27. “Rain beats a leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots.” – African Proverb
28. “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for something.” – African Proverb
29. “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” – African Proverb
30. “Other people’s wisdom prevents the king from being called a fool.” – African Proverb
31. “God has created lands with lakes and rivers for man to live. And the desert so that he can find his soul.” – African Proverb
32. “Do not allow the belly to make you useless.” – African Proverb
33. “Little by little grow the bananas.” – African Proverb
34. “What you give you get, ten times over.” – African Proverb
35. “When the fool is told a proverb, its meaning has to be explained to him.” – African Proverb
36. “Money is sharper than a sword.” – African Proverb
37. “He that digs up a grave for his enemy may be digging it for himself.” – African Proverb
38. “You can tell a ripe corn by its look.” – African Proverb
39. “Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” – African Proverb
40. “When a man says yes, his chi (personal god) says yes also.” – African Proverb
41. “When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk.” – African Proverb
42. “Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.” – African Proverb
43. “Not to know is bad. Not to wish to know is worse.” – African Proverb
44. “A person, who earns calamity, eats it with his family.” – African Proverb
45. “If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy.” – African Proverb
46. “A clever king is the brother of peace.” – African Proverb
47. “Ingratitude is sooner or later fatal to its author.” – African Proverb
48. “The sun never sets without fresh news.” – African Proverb
49. “The good mother knows what her children will eat.” – African Proverb
50. “If you overtake a leader, you break your neck.” – African Proverb
51. “Do not call to a dog with a whip in your hand.” – African Proverb
52. “The blame of the antelope is on the hunter.” – African Proverb
53. “By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.” – African Proverb
54. “Wherever a man goes to dwell, his character goes with him.” – African Proverb
55. “Those who are destined for power have to fight for it.” – African Proverb
56. “An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.” – African Proverb
57. “Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat.” – African Proverbs
58. “Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand.” – African Proverb
59. “A person with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.” – African Proverb
60. “He is like a drum which makes a lot of noise but is hollow inside.” – African Proverb
61. “People should not talk while they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way.” – African Proverb
62. “Life is like a shadow and a mist; it passes quickly by, and is no more.” – African Proverb
63. “As the dog said, ‘If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is playing.” – African Proverb
64. “The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did.” – African Proverb
65. “The mouth which eats does not talk.” – African Proverb
66. “The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.” – African Proverb
67. “A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.” – African Proverb
68. “You can tell a ripe corn by its look.” – African Proverb
69. “When you are rich, you are hated; when you are poor, you are despised.” – African Proverb
70. “A wise man who knows proverbs, reconciles difficulties.” – African Proverb
71. “Make some money but don’t let money make you.” – African Proverb
72. “The mouth which eats does not talk.” – African Proverb
73. “Two small antelopes can beat a big one.” – African Proverb
74. “I am because we are.” – African Proverb
75. “Even though the old man is strong and hearty, he will not live forever.” – African Proverb
76. “A wise man who knows proverbs, reconciles difficulties.” – African Proverb
77. “Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands.” – African Proverb
78. “Don’t think there are no crocodiles just because the water’s calm.” – African Proverb
79. “The man who refuses to obey cannot command.” – African Proverb
80. “You must judge a man by the work of his hands.” – African Proverb
81. “The chameleon looks in all directions before moving.” – African Proverb
82. “Around a flowering tree there are many insects.” – African Proverb
83. “He who does not know one thing knows another.” – African Proverb
84. “A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.” – African Proverb
85. “A roaring lion kills no game.” – African Proverb
86. “A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride.” – African Proverb
87. “One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom.” – African Proverb
88. “You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.” – African Proverb
89. “What you learn is what you die with.” – African Proverb
90. “Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone.” – African Proverb
91. “When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.” – African Proverb
92. “It takes a village to raise a child.” – African Proverb
93. “A bad child is who does not take advice.” – African Proverb
94. “There is no medicine to cure hatred.” – African Proverb
95. “Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off.” – African Proverb
96. “Advice is a stranger; if he’s welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day.” – African Proverb
97. “Traveling is learning.” – African Proverb
98. “Where there are experts there will be no lack of learners.” – African Proverb
99. “Peace is costly but it is worth the expense.” – African Proverb
100. “Do not stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles.” – African Proverb
101. “By crawling a child learns to stand.” – African Proverb
102. “Only a fool tests the depth of a river with both feet.” – African Proverb
103. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
104. “The sun does not forget a village just because it is small.” – African Proverb
105. “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” – African Proverb
106. “A patient man will eat ripe fruit.” – African Proverb
107. “The poorest man in this world is not the one without money but the one without people.” – African Proverb
108. “Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases.” – African Proverb
109. “By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree.” – African Proverb
110. “You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win.” – African Proverb
111. “You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down.” – African Proverb
112. “The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat.” – African Proverb
113. “What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn.” – African Proverb
114. “A man doesn’t go far from where his corn is roasting.” – African Proverb
115. “In the land of promise a man may die of hunger.” – African Proverb
116. “An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by sheep.” – African Proverb
117. “One who loves you, loves you with your dirt.” – African Proverb
118. “To get lost is to learn the way.” – African Proverb
119. “A brave man dies once, a coward a thousand times.” – African Proverb
120. “Wisdom does not come overnight.” – African Proverb
121. “The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water.” – African Proverb
122. “The fool speaks, the wise man listens.” – African Proverb
123. “Those who are absent are always wrong.” – African Proverb
124. “The laughter of a child lights up the house.” – African Proverb
125. “Birds of all kinds will end up landing.” – African Proverb
126. “If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom.” – African Proverb
127. “A wise person will always find a way.” – African Proverb
128. “Nobody is born wise.” – African Proverb
129. “If you escaped from the lion’s den, why go back for your hat?” – African Proverb
130. “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” – African Proverb
131. “It is the one who lives in the house who knows where the roof leaks.” – African Proverb
132. “Character is like pregnancy. It cannot be hidden forever.” – African Proverb
133. “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” – African Proverb
134. “The fool speaks, the wise man listens.” – African Proverb
135. “The eagle does not hunt flies.” – African Proverb
136. “A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning.” – African Proverb
137. “Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden.” – African Proverb
138. “Learning expands great souls.” – African Proverb
139. “To get lost is to learn the way.” – African Proverb
140. “By crawling a child learns to stand.” – African Proverb
141. “If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents.” – African Proverb
142. “He who learns, teaches.” – African Proverb
143. “Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others.” – African Proverb
144. “Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem.” – African Proverb
145. “Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand.” – African Proverb
146. “In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges, and the foolish build dams.” – African Proverb
147. “Wisdom is wealth.” – African Proverb
148. “Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.” – African Proverb
149. “By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.” – African Proverb
150. “War has no eyes.” – African Proverb

Conclusion

In conclusion, this collection of 150 inspirational African proverbs is a timeless expression that has transcended generations. It is our hope that by sharing, we help continue the centuries-long tradition of passing these down to the next generation.