A collection of Ethiopian Proverbs and Wise Sayings

Ethiopia proverbs

Boy plays in Konso village, Ethiopia. (Photo: Jens Klinzing)

1- Better an egg this year than a chicken next year.

2- Don’t blame God for creating the tiger — instead, thank him for not giving it wings.

3- One who tries to hide with a dog, a child, a goat, or a person with a cold, will not remain hidden.

4- A Coffee and love taste best when hot.

5- Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying a grain in a bag with a hole in it.

6- The calves do not fear the horns of their mother.

7- If you gladly stoop to the ground don’t be surprised if they trample over you.

8- A good name is better than good perfume.

9- She who does not yet know how to walk cannot climb a ladder.

10- Only the man who is not hungry says the coconut has a hard shell.

11- When the hyena is gone, that is when the dog barks.

12- When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.

(Photo: Tamiru Legesse)

13- If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them?

14- A good conversation is better than a good bed.

15- The heart of a fool is in his mouth and the mouth of the wise man is in his heart.

16- One who plants grapes by the road side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem.

17- When the webs of the spider join, they can trap a lion.

18- The arrogant blind man picks a fight with his guide.

19- A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.

20- They snatched from me my own cry.

21- Cow dung can’t be gathered where no cow has been.

Ethiopian Gourds

Ethiopian gourds. (Photo: A. Davey)

22- He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.

23- The person who grew up without correction will find his mouth slipping instead of his foot.

24- The one who is mistaken is the one who does nothing.

25- If they speak, they are wind; if they are silent, they are gourds.

26- A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle.

27- The fool is thirsty in the midst of a downpour.

28- The eye of the leopard is on the goat, and the eye of the goat is on the leaf.

29- When the heart overflows, it comes out through the mouth.

30- The same water never runs into the same river.

Do you have an Ethiopian proverb you’d like to share with us? Please leave a comment.

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