Proverbs from Lifelines

Earth and Land | Forgiveness | Health and Wellness | Money | Peace

Earth and Land

• We are at peace as long as our children are with us and our land is under our control. (Ethiopia)
• As long as we are in our land, bread is like steak. (Ethiopia)
• The earth provides for those who nourish it. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• If the Earth does not give birth to grass and grain, we die. (Sudan)
• The soil said to a man, bring me your seed not your need. (Eritrea)
• You cannot deprive the earth of possessions. (Kenya)
• The earth opens its mouth for all. (Uganda)
• The earth is a beehive; we all enter by the same door. (Africa)
• The earth does not abhor a corpse. (Ghana)
• Whatever is above must come to earth. (Ghana)
• The earth does not grow fat. (South Africa)
• We have not inherited this land from our ancestors; rather we have borrowed it from our children. (Kenya)

Forgiveness

• He who forgives gains the victory in the dispute. (Nigeria)
• If you do not forgive a crime, you commit a crime. (Ghana)
• He who does not know how to forgive, let him not expect to be forgiven.
  (East Africa)
• If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive. (Ethiopia)
• You cannot throw away you finger because it hurt you. (Guyana)
• If God were not forgiving, heaven would be empty. (North Africa)
• Can the ant forget that the elephant stepped on him? (Kenya)
• It is easier to forgive than to forget. (South Africa)
• All errors are amendable. (Africa)

Health and Wellness

• Sickness is like rain; it falls on every roof. (Africa)
• When suffering knocks at your door and you tell him there is no seat left for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool. (Africa)
• For a rash to heal, you must stop scratching. (Tanzania)
• There is no cure for him who hides an illness. (Ethiopia)
• To know the disease is half the cure. (Africa)
• If you do not have to attend to your illness, then you have time to die. (Ghana)
• Medicine left in the bottle cannot help. (West Africa)
• If the dose of medicine tastes nasty, swallow it fast. (Grenada, Tobago)
• The thorn in your foot is temporarily appeased, but it is still in. (United States, South Carolina Gullah)
• There is no medicine as active as good food. (Nigeria)
• A diseased village is a good village to a medicine man. (Africa)
• A good herbalist does not need to advertise himself. (Africa)
• Good health is worth all your money. (South Africa)
• Suffer or pay the medicine man. (DRC)
• The physician’s fee is not paid till the sickness is over. (Ghana)
• They have cured my swollen testicles, but they have also cut them off! (Uganda)
• A person who has something the matter with him sits near the fire even when the sun is hot. (Kenya)
• Man can do as much as he like, but not for as long as he like. (Guyana)
• One with a scar, do not think him healed. (Tanzania)
• Visitors’ footfalls are like medicine; they heal the sick. (Central Africa)
• A healthy ear can stand hearing sick words. (Senegal)
• Before healing others, heal yourself. (Gambia)
• Health is a crown, and no one knows it save a sick person. (East Africa)

Money

• Lack of money is lack of friends; if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be related to you. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• A wealthy man will always have followers. (Nigeria)
• A man with wealth will always get a servant. (Niger, Nigeria)
• No one in the presence of a large sum of money goes hungry to bed. (Ghana)
• The rich eat without any fuss. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• You shouldn’t hoard your money and die of hunger. (Ghana)
• If one wants to eat, she asks her purse. (Ghana)
• If someone says he will give you something sweet to eat and he gives you money, he has done it. (Ghana)
• Food can be refused after I have had my fill, but not money. (Mozambique)
• If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. (Ghana)
• Make some money, but do not let money make you. (Tanzania)
• If you befriend rich people and you are in need, your need will not be great. (Ghana)
• One cannot count on riches. (Somalia)
• Money has wings. (Ghana)
• Money does not stay in one place. —Ghana (Akan)
• Money no grow on tree. (Jamaica)
• Those who inherit fortunes are frequently more of a problem than those who made them. (Congo)
• If you are rich, always shut your door. (Ghana)
• Much wealth brings many enemies. (East Africa)
• The one who overspent his resources troubled the one who saved. (Kenya)
• Money that has no leisure is not given out as a loan. (Ghana)
• Wealth is invited, but poverty invites itself. (Zimbabwe)
• Lacking money is not [necessarily the same as] being poor. (Kenya)
• Save money, and money will save you. (Jamaica)
• Money is sharper than a sword. (Ghana)
• Money cannot talk, yet it can make lies look true. (South Africa)
• Savings won’t rot. (East Africa)
• Money is not counted well for you by somebody else. (Uganda)
• Money given to a mere lover is like money given to a prostitute. (Africa)
• If a child is entrusted with a large amount of money, he will incur big debts. (Ghana)
• The elder who has no money is considered to be unwise. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• You become wise when you begin to run out of money. (Ghana)
• Wealth diminishes with use; learning increases with use. (Nigeria)
• Wealth usually comes in walking but exits running. (Ethiopia)
• Money is not the medicine against death. (Ghana)

Peace, Resolution and Reconciliation

• It is better to build bridges than walls. (East Africa)
• She/he learns reconciliation before knowing how to fight. (Ethiopia)
• To engage in conflict, one does not bring a knife that cuts but a needle that sews. (East Africa)
• Do not ever slam the door; you might want to go back. (Africa)
• Allowing a current matter to remind one of similar matters in the past prevents a quarrel from ending easily. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• Taking aim for too long can ruin your eyes. (Niger, Nigeria)
• The peacemaker receives the blows. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• A word of peace redeems a crime. (Namibia)
• The road to peace is not far. (Gambia)
• Every animal eats where it finds peace. (Ghana)
• Peace is more fattening than food. (Namibia)
• A day of peace in times of stress is like a thousand days in paradise. (Nigeria)
• Peace wins over wealth. (Algeria)
• Peace is costly, but is worth the expense. (Kenya)
• Peace is the father of friendship. (Benin, Nigeria, Togo)
• There is no peace until after enmity. (Egypt)
• There must be peace in the district to have law and order in the country. (Niger, Nigeria)
• Peace and injustice are like night and day, they cannot stay together. (Nigeria)
• If a person loves peace, it does not make her or him a coward. (Nigeria)
• The value of peace is never known until the peace is disturbed. (Sierra Leone)

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