Even when they elicit humor, funny African proverbs are always embedded with deeper meanings and insights that stretch into the facets of human existence. These proverbs could appear light on the surface but are thought-provoking when looked at meticulously. Moreover, through hilarious concepts and proverbs, Africans have been able to address sensitive issues across politics, religion, and social norms.
Some Funny And Deep African Proverbs
1. If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.
2. As long as the bed shakes regularly, the home is at peace.
3. No matter how hot your anger is, it cannot cook yams.
4. Do not follow a person who is running away.
5. He who thinks he is leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk.
6. A snake that you can see does not bite.
7. When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well. But few will be ready to go down after it.
8. The earth is a beehive, and we all enter by the same door.
9. By crawling, a baby learns to stand.
10. Good palm wine and a pretty wife are two sweet poisons to a man.
11. Even the best dancer on the stage must retire sometime.
12. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother.
13. The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry.
14. Rain can soak a leopard’s skin but it doesn’t wash out its spots
15. It takes a whole village to raise a child.
16. The wise chief does not eat from two sides
17. If you run after two hares you will catch neither.
18. A chattering bird builds no nest.
19. Only a fool tests the river’s depth with both feet.
20. Marriage is like a groundnut, you have to crack it to see what is inside.
21. No person is born great-great. People become great when others are sleeping.
22. A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea.
23. He who is being carried does not realize how far the town is.
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24. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
25. Crying a lot does not give you peace of mind.
26. He is a fool whose sheep runs away twice.
27. Wealth is like a hair in the nose: it hurts to be separated whether from a little or from a lot.
28. A boat cannot go forward if each rows his own way.
29. Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.
30. Ashes fly back into the face of him who throws them.
31. Knowledge is like a Garden: It cannot be harvested if it is not cultivated.
32. No water without waves.
33. Between true friends, even water drunk together is sweet enough.
34. All monkeys cannot hang on the same branch.
35. When God cooks, you don’t see smoke.
36. A tree does not move unless there is wind.
37. If you want to know the end, look at the beginning.
38 . Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the tree tops to rest.
39. Even the best cooking pot will not produce food.
40. It is not what you are called, but what you answer to.
41. It is not work that kills, but worry.
42. Without fools there will be no wisdom.
43. However much the buttocks are in a hurry, they will always remain behind.
44. Before you go out with a widow, you must first ask her what killed her husband.
45. A child can play with its mother’s breasts, not its father’s testicles.
46. There is no virgin in a maternity ward.
47. If a man wants to grow a long tooth, he should have the lip to cover it.
48. An agama lizard in the village will always remain an agama in town.
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49. It requires a lot of carefulness to kill the fly that perches on the scrotum.
50. No matter how far you urinate, the last drop always falls at your feet.
