A bird is in the air, but its mind is on the ground. (Mandinka)
A person should not forget where he came from and what is important.
A ripe melon falls by itself. (Zimbabwe)
All things happen in good time.
The dead say to each other: “Dead one.” (Mandinka)
The pot likes to call the kettle black.
A student doesn’t know about masterhood, but a master knows about studenthood. (Mandinka)
A disciple is not above his master.
Every time an old man dies, it is as if a library has burnt down. (Mandinka)
Every person is a storehouse of oral tradition.
Even the Niger River must flow around an island. (Nigeria)
Sometimes even the strongest must turn aside.
Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. (Nigeria)
Those who write history are its heroes.
The hunter does not rub himself in oil and lie by the fire to sleep. (Nigeria)
Human life does not prosper without common sense.
Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the tree tops to rest. (Uganda)
No mortal is above the laws of nature.
Although the snake does not fly, it has caught the bird whose home is in the sky. (Ghana)
The lowly can do what they put their mind to do.
A man does not wander far from where his corn is roasting. (Nigeria)
People are practical and tend to their own self interest.