Proverbs to inspire, help, and educate

Proverbs to inspire, help, and educate

A. From Haiti

B. From Jamaica

C. About Food

D. About Leadership






A. FROM HAITI

Haiti has a rich store of proverbs. I collected the proverbs below to try and keep hope alive in the aftermath of the January 2010 devastating earthquake in Port-an-Prince, Haiti.  

 

Hope

You know what you've got, but you don't know what's coming.

Misfortune has no horn.

Where there is hunger, goats do not die tied to their ropes.

The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun.

What happens to the turkey can happen to the rooster too.

The giver of the blow forgets, the bearer of the scar remembers.

Every human being is a human being. 

Only the knife knows what is at the heart of the yam. 

Beyond the mountain is another mountain. 

A stumble is not a fall.

Hope makes one live.


FROM JAMAICA
Jamaican proverbs, like Haitian proverbs, owe a great deal to African roots. In just a few words, the proverbs tell stories, provide graphic images, and convey values that have been passed on from generation to generation for hundreds of years. 

·  Beautiful woman, beautiful trouble.

·  When man have raw meat, him look fi fire. 

·  If yuh throw rockstone into pig sty, de one that bawl out is de one get hit.
·  Those who kyaan dance blame it on de music.

·  Yuh kyaan prevent bird from fly over yuh head, but yuh kyan prevent him from making nest in yuh head.
·  If yuh talk with hog, yuh kyaan expect anything but grunt.

·  Before yuh marry keep both eyes open; after marriage shut one.

·  De nearer de bone, de sweeter de meat.

·  If fool never go market, bad things wouldn't sell.

·  If yuh dig a hole, take care yuh doan fall in it.

·  Little crab hole spoil big race horse

·  De same knife stick goat stick sheep.

·  Catch a bull by him horn and a man by him words.

·  If fish learn to keep him mouth shut, fisherman wouldn't catch him.

·  Save money, and money will save yuh.

ABOUT FOOD

Food binds people of African ancestry to their roots. For example, we can find in parts 

of Africa dishes that are the origins of gumbo of the US South, and duckanoo of  

Jamaica. Traditions of  sharing food with strangers are very strong in Africa and the 

African Diaspora. Soups and stews therefore provide the opportunity to “stretch” the 

food and feed far more than seems possible.

 

Words are sweet, but they never take the place of food. -Ibo

Fine words do not produce food. ~Nigeria

Good words are food; bad words are poison. -Malagasy

Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. -Africa

The grasshopper which is always near its mother eats the best food. - Ghana

The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry. -Bayombe

When the leg does not walk, the stomach does not eat. - Congo

One spoon of soup in need has more value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food. -Angola

If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full.-~South Africa

You cannot tell a hungry child that you gave him food yesterday. –Zimbabwe

Once the food is ready, it should be eaten. -Kenya

Man is like a pepper; till you have chewed it you do not know how hot it is. -Hausa

Pepper burn hot, but it's good for curry. -Jamaica

 

ABOUT LEADERSHIP

These proverbs show a philosophy of leadership that today's 

leaders (from Africa and elsewhere) could well emulate.

Two leaders do not fight in one house. ~Ugandan Proverb

Prefer the leader who comes to you. ~Ugandan Proverb

You don't know a good manager till a bad manager come. -Guyana

Without a leader, black ants are confused. ~Ugandan Proverb

A leader who understands proverbs reconciles difficulties. ~Nigerian Proverb

A great leader is an ordinary person with extraordinary wisdom. ~Malawian Proverb

Much talking does not make you a leader. ~Ugandan Proverb

Threats and insults never rule a country. ~Zambian Proverb

If you are kicked from behind, it means you are in front. -Africa

For more African proverbs to inspire, help, and educate please see Lifelines: The African Book of Proverbs.