Revision 2004449 of "African proverbs" on enwikiquote

'''Proverbs from all of [[w:Africa|Africa]].'''
== A ==
* A thorn can be removed by another thorn. 
** Meaning: Atfer a break-up, a woman can be replaced by another woman. A man can be replaced by another man. 
== B ==
== D ==
* Don't look where you fell, but where you slipped.
** English equivalent: Today is yesterday's pupil.
** {{cite book | last1 = Sr, Neil, Neil, Neal | year = 2011 | title = Police Instructor: Deliver Dynamic Presentations, Create Engaging Slides, \& Increase Active Learning | publisher = CreateSpace | page = 245 | isbn=1}}

*Don’t set sail using someone else’s star.
** Meaning: Avoid copying someone else. Just because someone has been [[successful]] in what he/she does does not warrant that you will also be successful at the same thing. [http://answersafrica.com/african-proverbs-meanings.html Answers Africa proverbs and meanings]

== E ==
* Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.<br>It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.<br>Every morning a [[lion]] wakes up.<br>It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.<br>It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.<br>When the sun comes up, you better start running.
** Thomas L. Friedman, ''[[The World Is Flat]]'' (2005–2006), Ch. 2, Flattener #6 (p. 137 in the 2006 edition)
*eyes don't carry loads but it knows what the head can carry* Moaga proverb

==G==
==F==
== I ==
* '''If one knows thee not or a blind man scolds thee, do not become angry'''.
** [[Anonymous]] (claimed to be an African proverb by ''The Journal of Negro [[History]], Volume I. Jan. 1916''[http://www.outfo.org/literature/pg/1/3/6/4/13642/13642.txt])

* It takes a whole village to raise a child.
** Popularized in English by [[Hillary Rodham Clinton|Hillary Clinton]]'s 1996 book, ''[[w:It Takes a Village#Proverb question|It Takes a Village]]''. Although sayings with similar purport are found in various African cultures, the authenticity of this expression's African origin is debatable.[http://www.h-net.org/~africa/threads/village.html][http://www.afriprov.org/index.php/african-proverb-of-the-month/23-1998proverbs/137-november-1998-proverb.html]

* '''If they are offered winged [[ant]]s, people will eat them.'''
** {{cite book|author=Martin H. Manser|title=The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQc8NbTYC&pg=PA3|accessdate=15 June 2013|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6673-5|page=3}}

* It is a bad child who does not take advice.
** English equivalent: Advice most needed is the least heeded.
** {{cite book | last1 = Stone | year = 2006 | title = Routledge Dictionary of World Proverbs | publisher = Taylor \& Francis | page = 8}}

== O ==
* One hand cannot wash itself.
Meaning: You need others to succeed in life. 
* Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
** Source for meaning: {{cite book|last1=Bennett|first1=Nigel|last2=Anderson|first2=Lesley|title=Rethinking Educational Leadership: Challenging the Conventions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=whTcWnyncogC&pg=PA171|date=11 July 2003|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-4924-4|page=171}}
*One bad nut often destroys a lot of good nuts.

== S ==
* Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. (West African proverb)
** [[Theodore Roosevelt]], in a [http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm139.html letter to Henry L. Sprague] (26 January 1900)

== T ==
* '''The [[sun]] is the king of torches.'''
** West African proverb, quoted in ''Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages : Classified Subjectively and Arranged Alphabetically'' (1887) by Robert Christy, p. 322

* Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
** {{cite book | last1 = Prospectus, Goldman | year = 2011 | title = Baseball Prospectus 2011 | publisher = John Wiley \& Sons | page = 496 | isbn=0470622067}}

* East African proverb, The man who hangs around a beautiful girl without proposing to her, ends up fetching water for guests at her wedding. 
** You need to act fast. There are somethings that you have to say right on time.

== Y ==
* '''You condemn on hearsay evidence alone, your sins increase.'''
** Latin equivalent: When in doubt, in favour of the accused.
** [[Anonymous]] quoted in ''Apropos of Africa : Sentiments of Negro American Leaders on Africa from the 1800s to the 1950s'' (1969) edited by Adelaide Cromwell Hill and Martin Kilson

== See also ==
* [[Afrikaans proverbs]]
* [[Ila proverbs]]
* [[Ndebele proverbs]]
* [[Xhosa proverbs]]

[[Category:Proverbs]]