Great Throughts Treasury

"Those who derive fun watching lunatics, out to have one as a child or relation to know the pains of it."

"Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble."

"Though the bat may hang its head downwards, it is fully aware of the way the birds fly."

"Time destroys all things."

"To do one's duty is to eat the prized fruit of honor."

"To eat from the same pot with another man, is to take an oath of perpetual friendship with him."

"To have no enemies is equivalent to wealth."

"To lie down resigned to fate is madness."

"Too much description turns a tiger to a mere deer."

"Twenty children cannot play together for twenty years."

"Two raindrops do not make a pool."

"Two men quarreling do not share the same seat on a canoe."

"Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty."

"Two rams cannot drink from the same bucket at the same time. They will lock horns."

"Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters."

"Unripe plantain is not easy to chew, a bad child is not easy to throw to the tiger to devour."

"Until lions have their own historians, accounts of the hunt will always celebrate the hunter."

"Up, up, struggle; the world is struggle."

"Until the rotten tooth is pulled out, the mouth must chew with caution."

"Venom of viper does nothing to the back of a tortoise."

"Warm water never forgets that it was once cold."

"We cannot choose who our relatives should be, even though we may come to like some better than others."

"Voluntary work is better than slavery."

"We have left our pots unwatched, and our food now burns."

"We do not use our bare feet to search for hidden thorns which we have seen in day time."

"Water may cover the footprint on the ground but it does not cover the words of the mouth."

"Wealth diminishes with usage; learning increases with use."

"What affects the nose must also affect the eyes that must weep for it."

"We live by hope, but a reed never becomes an Iroko tree by dreaming."

"What a prostitute earns she calls presents from her husband?s friends."

"What an elder sees sitting; the young can?t see standing."

"What an old man sees while lying down, a young man can never see even when he climbs up in a tree."

"What is Past is Prologue."

"What gives the child the itch has already given him the fingernails for scratching it."

"What is sensible today may be derangement at another time."

"What the child says, he has heard at home."

"When a fire starts from the shrine, no precaution can be possible."

"When a fowl gets to a new town, it stands on one leg until it knows that it is a town where people stand on their two legs."

"What you do in black hair you will eat in white hair."

"What you leave is what you meet: he who defecated on the road on his way to farm would meet flies when returning."

"Whatever the type of firewood found in a place, it is usually good enough for the people of that place to cook with."

"When a cripple is told that the load on his head is bent, he pointed to his legs."

"When a drunk meets a mad man, he learns the difference between being merely drunk and truly mad."

"When a face is sullen it remains there to be seen on its owner."

"When a drunken man meets a mad man, he learns the difference between being merely drunk and being truly mad."

"When a dog catches a prey, it is because it wants to eat it."

"When a once-beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa master weavers."

"When a new saying gets to the land of empty men they lose their heads over it."

"When a man finds that he was wrong to have refused to eat, he should leave his anger and play a harp to call for harmony."

"When a man loses his prestige, he does not regain it by going to where he is not known."