Great Throughts Treasury

"Hate has no medicine."

"A billy goat will find its way home on the day it limps."

"A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother."

"A calf that is sucking does not bellow."

"A child who asks questions does not become a fool."

"A child must learn to cut only the morsel that is fit for his mouth."

"A crab does not beget a bird."

"A child who is to be successful is not reared exclusively on a bed of down."

"A crazy chief is more noted than ten normal people."

"A cracked bell can never sound well."

"A child who knows how to wash his hands dines with the elders."

"A dog knows the places he is thrown food."

"A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its own position to occupy."

"A dog that has two homes will go hungry."

"A good woman should be as bright as sunshine, as black as ink, and as sweet as honey."

"A healthy person who begs for food is an insult to a generous farmer."

"A knife does not know who is it’s master."

"A lazy man’s farm is a breeding ground for snakes."

"A leader goes to war when he is insulted."

"A leader does not listen to rumors."

"A lie can destroy a thousand truths."

"A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."

"A people without a leader ruin the town."

"A lizard that knows how to hide grows to become a crocodile."

"A powerful deity is the one to whom sacrifices are offered."

"A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride."

"A stranger does not skin a sheep that is paid as a fine at a chief's court."

"A rat says, “What belongs to me, is in my stomach and not in my mouth.”"

"A slave does not choose his master."

"A stranger dances - he does not sing."

"A tree that bears good fruit has sticks under it."

"A tree that does not know how to dance will be taught by the wind."

"A woman is like a rat: even if it grows up in your house, it steals from you."

"A worthy cause is worth pursuing to the end."

"All animals run, but if a cow runs people say it’s crazy."

"A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it."

"A woman is like a blanket: If you cover yourself with it, it bothers you; if you throw it aside you will feel the cold."

"All heads are the same, but not all thoughts are the same."

"Although the snake does not fly it catches the bird whose home is in the sky."

"An army is driven back by courage and not by insults, however many."

"An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep."

"An African should not be made to suffer the loss of an arm from a gunshot in Europe."

"An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb."

"And some others that say “don’t be greedy!”"

"By coming and going, a bird weaves its nest."

"But for the tortoise alone, the gun will not be fired in the forest."

"By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed."

"Death has the key to open the miser's chest."

"Do good because of tomorrow."

"Be glad you are unknown, for when you are known, you would wish you weren't."