Collection of African proverbs, sayings and popular sayings in Africa translated into Italian, as testimony to the wisdom of the various peoples present in this varied continent.
African idioms
- The woman God has destined you is better than the one chosen by the eye.
- Ambiguous as the bat, half animal and half bird.
- The path through the forest is long only if you don't love the person who visits you.
- Where the traces of a cat are seen, those of the mouse are not seen.
- If you want to be despised, get married; if you want to be appreciated, die.
- A prudent and prudent visitor opens his eyes, but not his mouth.
- When you see the moon surrounded by a halo, there is a king who travels somewhere in that light.
- Whoever has no fence around his land has no enemies.
- The beautiful girl is not without flaws.
- Don't get rid of the oars until the pirogue is on the shore.
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- Life is a palm branch bent by the winds.
- If someone gives you the white part of the chicken, don't ask for the paw too.
- It is not the hand that gives, but the heart.
- The carp dies where its eggs are found.
- There is no need to show the elephant with your finger.
- Knowing how to swim and ride a horse is good, but knowing yourself is better.
- When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.
- Two fingers are not introduced into a nostril.
- The leopard does not sleep on a dry branch.
- Children are the moon that shines.
- As long as you are fooled, it means that you are alive; when you cry, it means you're dead.
- The enemy of man is his language.
- Lying gives flowers but no fruit.
- Whoever thinks about what people say does not fill their plates.
- We will judge you by following the color of your tracks.
- The calm sea does not make the sailor good.
- The sun and moon are the best lamps.
- Each stream has its source.
- The owl has had ugly eyes since it was in the egg.
- If the knife is well sharpened, you must walk carefully.
- The wealth above the daughter's head does not satisfy anyone: it only satisfies what you find with your hand.
- On the bank of hippos there is neither pirogue, nor oar.
- Those who do not travel do not know the value of men.
- Anyone who does not know one thing knows another.
- It is better to help someone who struggles, and not to starve, because you don't find gratitude in this.
- The sun crosses the boundaries of time and there no evil man's arrow can reach it.
- If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow will come; if you don't wait for tomorrow, tomorrow will come.
- Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like having a laundry bag of wheat in your hands.
- The hen does not sing in front of the rooster.
African sayings
- Even if nobody loves you, you will always find someone willing to cut your hair.
- The path through the forest is long only if you do not love the person you are visiting.
- Shaking the head does not deprive the donkey of the ears.
- When the heart is full of anger, it comes out of the mouth.
- A wise man never knows everything, only stupid people know everything.
- The oasis is made for the body, the desert for the soul.
- In the womb of the mother the baby lacks nothing.
- The sun and moon are the best lamps.
- To love those who do not love you is to love the rain that falls in the forest.
- Who has not suffered, cannot share the sufferings of others.
- Those who go up in the same pirogue, have the same aspirations.
- If you refuse to be straightened when you are green, you will not be straightened when you are dry.
- The remedy for cold is fire; the remedy for sadness is goodness.
- Those who live near water can swim.
- It is never night where people love each other.
- The young man walks faster than the elderly, but the elderly knows the way.
- The dog does not forget the owner.
- You can't avoid suffering, only death can free you.
- Whoever comes first to the source drinks the purest water.
- The works of women are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- If you can rejoice in the joys of others, you are the most worthy inhabitant of the village.
- Even an elephant needs only one day to die.
- Whoever hits the skin, wounds the flesh.
- The water of the river always flows downwards.
- If you want to keep a secret, entrust it to the passing wind, but not to a woman.
- Even the lion must defend himself against flies.
- Where everything is burned the fire never comes back.
- He who always runs will know fewer and fewer things than he who remains calm and reflects.
- The river wanted to do its own thing and got lost.
- Get going even if you don't like the hour. When you arrive, the hour will still be appreciated.
- When an old man dies, a library is burned.
- If you want to get there first, run alone. If you want to go far, walk together.
- A man is generated, not his heart.
- Kiss the hand you can't cut.
- Only when the lions start writing the story will the hunters stop being heroes.
- What is not done to a demijohn is not done to a water bottle.
- The hyena does not sleep with sheep.
- When one has eaten salty, one can no longer eat without salt.
- A beautiful body can hide a bad heart.
African proverbs
- Even if the elephant has lost weight, he will not dare cross a lianas bridge.
- Why are a lazy man's nails long? To scratch the belly when hungry.
- The individual dies, the family continues.
- The family matures with dialogue.
- You can distance what runs behind you but not what runs inside you.
- A hen on the ground does not sleep hungry.
- The human heart is not a lot where anyone can put their hand.
- Friendship is a road that disappears in the sand if it is never repeated.
- Hold on to a real friend with both hands.
- The ant cannot cross a stream without a bridge.
- Fish is strong only in water.
- Wise men speak simple words.
- The stranger is like a brother you have never met.
- Anyone who wants coal can stand the smoke.
- The miser mice are fatter than he is.
- A dog does not trip twice against the same stone.
- Whoever walks on the dunghill will have to wash their feet.
- The sorcerer dies, but his medicines retain their strength.
- The past lives again every day because it has never passed.
- The human heart is not a lot where anyone can put their hand.
- The butterfly does not count the years, but the moments: this is why its short time is enough for it.
- The squirrel is small, but is not a slave to the elephant.
- One ring on the arm makes no noise.
- Time is like a bird; if you don't take it, fly away.
- Beautiful words are like flowers, beautiful actions like fruits.
- The dog's dreams remain within him.
- The day does not come back.
- To raise a child requires an entire village.
- Soul storms are worse than sandstorms.
- Only the owner can recover the bone from the dog's throat.
- Youth does not leave you empty-handed.
- The opinion of the intelligent is better than the certainty of the ignorant.
- The stranger has big eyes, but does not see what is happening in the village.
- The eye does not eat orange, but knows that it is sweet.
- Mushrooms do not grow under the tree that is not rotten.
- The moon shows the path, but not the dangers of the road.
- In the dark, all cats are leopards.
- Whoever watches two termite mounds returns empty-handed.
- The only benefit of flattery is that, by feeling what we are not, we can educate ourselves on what we should be.
- Unattended bananas belong to everyone.
