Great Throughts Treasury

"A friendly person is never a good-for-nothing."

"A glorious past is the work of a glorious man."

"A Fulani will lie but he will not make a lying proverb."

"A guest should not cause his host?s demise. When the guest is ready to leave, his host should not have given him a hunch-back."

"A guest mourner does not wail as though his heart is broken."

"A housewife who complains that there is not enough foodstuff in the market should remember that if her husband adds to what is already available, there would be more for everyone."

"A goat owned by two people sleeps outside."

"A herbalist that refuses to ask laymen what leaves he looks for in the bush, must have difficulties getting what he wants."

"A laughing jackal portends a witch in the rafters."

"A leader in the community without a pot belly is a stingy man."

"A hunter who has only one arrow does not shoot with careless aim."

"A lizard that fell from the top of a tree wastes its time looking back to where it fell from; if there was anything good the lizard deserved, it could not have missed it while it was there on top of the tree."

"A man cannot sit down alone to plan for prosperity."

"A lounging lizard catches no crickets."

"A man who eases himself in public, gives cause to others to despise him."

"A man who has one finger pointing at another has three pointing towards himself."

"A man has the same last name as his brother."

"A man who is advised and he takes it, is still a man who acts from his own free will."

"A man that begets a barren cannot have a grandchild."

"A man who believes that he can do everything, let him dig a grave and bury himself."

"A man who lives alone is either always overworked, or always overfed."

"A man who lives on the bank of a river does not use spittle to wash his hands."

"A man who lives on the banks of the Niger should not wash his hands with spittle."

"A man who rushes into battle does not realize that battle entails death."

"A man who shoots his arrows as he makes them does not realize when he has shot a whole sheaf."

"A man who walks alone carries a load of palm-fronds."

"A masquerade does not perform to an outside audience until he performs well at the home base."

"A man with a missing tooth does not eat ugiri with relish."

"A masquerade is not a spirit only because of its mask."

"A mother?s tenderness for her child is as discreet as the dew that kisses the earth."

"A one-eyed person does not thank god until he meets a blind person at prayer."

"A pad that breaks a pot of water does not remain on the head."

"A mother is gold, a father is a mirror."

"A motherless child shouldn?t allow his/her back to develop sore."

"A performing masquerade who tries too hard to outclass his colleagues may expose his anus."

"A mouse that removes the palm-nut that turns out to be the bait of a trap, would already have known that the palm-nut does not ripen on the ground."

"A person always breaking off from work never finishes anything."

"A palm tree climber is not expected to tell everything he sees from up above."

"A person on whose head lice are being removed, must be grateful."

"A person once bitten by a snake will be scared by an old rope."

"A person who arrives at a feast when the cooked meat is being pulled out of the pot does not know what was endured by others to catch and cook it."

"A person can never run so fast as to run away from his backside."

"A person is a guest for one or two days, but becomes an intruder on the third."

"A person who chases a chicken is due a fall. The chicken is a master of the dodged escaped."

"A person who does not bathe, must know it of himself that he is dirty."

"A person who happens by a neighbor?s house at dinner time, and is invited to join the meal, does not swallow such large morsels as to break the string of pearls around his neck."

"A person who has children does not die."

"A person who is being carried to the market does not realize that the way is long."

"A person who picks something and decides to make it his own, ought to think how he would feel if he was the person who lost the property he picked."

"A person who underneath the tall palm tree is best positioned to tell on which side the ripe head is."