In just one sentence, African Proverbs offer wisdom and poetry. In all cultures, proverbs play an important part where oral histories and story telling still manage to lure people away from the TV set. Like all proverbs, African proverbs are used to convey ideas, truth as well as life lessons. African proverbs are great to delve into because they give a nice insight into many different African cultures, yet many of the lessons are universal and can be as meaningful to residents of New York as to those living in Kinshasa.
And as an Ghana (Ashanti) proverb says “When the fool is told a proverb, its meaning has to be explained to him”. Here’s a list of our current favorites:
* Rain beats a leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots (Ashanti)
* A man who has one finger pointing at another has three pointing towards himself (Nigeria)
* Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight (Ashanti)
* You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla (Congo)
* He who is bitten by a snake fears a lizard (Uganda)
* He who asks questions, cannot avoid the answers (Cameroon)
* Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it (Akan and Ewe)
* Because a man has injured your goat, do not go out and kill his bull (Kenya)
* A tree is known by its fruit (Zulu)
* The dog’s bark is not might, but fright (Liberia)
via: goafrica.com
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Tags: african proverb, african proverbs, proverb, Proverbs of African
