Are you as wise as you claim to be? Here is an exciting way to find out. In an African community, you cannot claim to be a smart person if you do not have enough knowledge and understanding of proverbs. In this context, South African proverbs have been the basis of meaningful conversations from time immemorial. Their real significance manifests in the beauty of the words used, their sense of detachment and generalization, and the way they connect with other artistic genres.

Every country and continent has its proverbs and wise sayings that give them pride. In Africa, proverbs come to life everywhere as opposed to the other continents. In this article, some of the most famous proverbs are explored, and you will realize that those that carry the most profound meaning are constructed in a rather funny way so as not to be so direct or considered offensive. Identify those that can be used on different occasions, for example, at a wedding to give counsel.

List of African proverbs

South African communities are very fond of using sayings up to date with prominent South African leaders known to often throw in one or two proverbs in their speeches. The Zulu proverbs have overtime stood out as some of the best proverbs in the region and below is a list of a few popular ones.

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South African proverbs and meanings

In South Africans communities, proverbs were used in day-to-day communication, especially by the elderly to the younger generation.

• Sugarcane is always sweetest at the joint. A sugarcane’s joint is the hardest part of the plant, and it is tough to chew it, but it is the part with the most sugar. Life’s sweetest things are usually the most difficult to get to, but when you finally do, it will all be worth it.
• First, a foolish deed, then remorse follows. When one messes up and does something they regret, they will often end up feeling sorry for the act.
• A roaring lion will kill no one. Advises people not just to sit down and tell people of their plans because they will not achieve anything. Instead, they should go straight to actions.
• When the rain falls, it will fall both on the freeborn and the slaves. Nature does not discriminate against people. If it is a calamity, it befalls all and the same way good weather is for all.
• You cannot beat a drum with one finger. Give every task the magnitude it deserves if you want to get the desired results.
• If you start looking for a fly in your food, it means that you are full. People start looking for mistakes in something after they have already benefited.
• When you are crying for rain, you are crying for mud too. When you ask for something suitable, be ready for the consequences that come with it.
• A termite will grow up in dry wood but still come to maturity. No matter how bad what surrounds you is, you have to thrive.
• You cannot drink medicine on behalf of a sick person. There are some situations that everyone has to face on their own.
• People become people through other people. Emphasizes the need to work with other people to achieve good results.
• Once you find your first diamond, you never give up looking. The moment you taste what success feels like, you will always want to be successful.
• A crocodile’s strength is in the water. Every person works best in their territory.
• When two elephants have met on a narrow bridge, they cannot go anywhere until one of them lies down. There are times when for two people to succeed, one of them has to give way to the other person first.
• After you climb a mountain and reach the top, do not forget the shrubs that you stepped on while climbing. A reminder that after you succeed, you should not forget the people who helped you get to your success.
• An idle loiterer waits for a kick from the old boot while a quail waits for the stick. Some people have to be pushed to do something productive.

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African proverbs about children

Africans have precepts that talked about the importance of children. Proverbs were also used to counsel children or rebuke certain behaviours.

• It is time to cry out when a four-year child still crawls instead of walking.
• Helping a child to love something is more important than helping him to learn.
• It takes a village to raise a child.
• As a child sleeps, the mother’s attention is on the child’s stomach.
• When a chick ignores its mother’s warning, the eagle has found its meal.
• You do not beat a child to take away its tears.
• When the mother monkey leaves her baby to fall, the dried branch must not be blamed.
• A blind man gives money to his child to buy kerosene for his lamp when he is happy.
• You do not name a child that is not yet born.
• The laughter of a child lights up the house.
• Train a child the way he should go as you also go the same way.
• A child, a drunkard and a fool will always tell the truth.
• A woman who keeps losing children doesn’t invent names anymore.
• A woman with ten children knows everything that happens in the night.
• Your children will do for you as you do for your ancestors.

African proverbs about life and death

African communities use sayings to gain insight into life and give facts about death and often using comparisons with aspects of life.

• A good person’s grave is loved long after he is dead.
• Death is a robe that everyone has to wear.
• Not even a beautiful and well-crafted a coffin will make anyone wish for death.
• Life has seasons.
• Death will always be news.
• It is good to work, as long as you do not forget to live.
• The ones we eat with are often the ones who kill us.
• He who eats alone dies alone.
• Death is like a thief.
• People come and cry, and that is life, cry and go, and that is death.
• The death of not a relative is a wedding. Compared to the death of a relative
• Desire first, death afterwards.
• A dying man does not cry because he is going to a place he knows nothing about, but because of the things he wishes he’d done in the world he is about to leave behind.
• You do not make an appointment with death.
• The property of a helpless man should not be divided before he dies.

African proverbs cheating

Cheating is considered a vice in most African communities and proverbs were used to discourage it and show its effects.

• He that can cheat at play will cheat you anyway.
• Your previous lies will contradict your future truths.
• You cannot name a child that is not born.
• There is no venom like that the tongue produces.
• Honesty is the first victim of war.
• The words you say to tell the truth are as important as the decision to be truthful.
• The best-dressed lie will never be better than the naked truth.
• An escaped lie will never reach the truth.
• False hope kills more readily than bitter truth.
• Never speak falsity knowingly.
• The worst you can do to truth is to cloth it in lies. You will never undo it.
• One lie can spoil a thousand truths.
• There are times a lie is kinder than a truth
• A lie has many variations, but the truth has none.
• The one who lies thrice believes he has told the truth.

Revamp your knowledge of proverbs

Even with all the urbanization, proverbs will continue to be a living tradition amongst the majority of Africans. As they are relatively easy to record, their popularity will not die as collectors, writers and poets continue to use them in their literary works with the most prominent representation being South African proverbs.

READ ALSO: Wise African proverbs about life

Source: TUKO.co.ke

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