African Wisdom: A Collection of African Quotes

I love quotes I think it’s a passion I got from my father who often quoted Shakespeare and had a collection of books with quotes. In commemoration of Black History month I have decided to post a collection of some of my favorite African Quotes and Proverbs on a variety of topics. These quotes are full of wisdom and give us a glimpse into African Culture and History. When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him. ~Ashanti Proverb

     African Thinking Man: Handmade metal art card by Injete

African Quotes on Wisdom
1.    Wisdom is wealth. - Swahili
2.    Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. - Akan Proverb
3.    The fool speaks, the wise man listens. ~Ethiopian Proverb
4.    Wisdom does not come overnight. – Somali
5.    The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water. ~ Cameroon
6.    Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others. - Hema (DRC) Proverb
7.    Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem. ~Akan Proverb
8.    Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean Proverb
9.    In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. ~Nigerian
10.  If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom.
11.  A wise person will always find a way. ~Tanzanian Proverb
12.  Nobody is born wise. ~African Proverb



African Quotes on Learning
1.    Learning expands great souls. ~Namibian Proverb
2.    To get lost is to learn the way.
3.    By crawling a child learns to stand.
4.    If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents. ~African Proverb
5.    He who learns, teaches. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
6.    Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases. ~Swahili Proverb
7.    By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree. ~Buganda Proverb
8.    You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. ~African Proverb
9.    You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down. ~Bateke Proverb
10.    The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat. ~African Proverb
11.    What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. ~African Proverb
12.    By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed. ~Ashanti Proverb
13.    One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. ~African Proverb
14.    You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. ~Congolese Proverb
15.    What you learn is what you die with. ~African Proverb

    Circle of Sisters, Celebration Table: Metal Art by Injete

African Quotes on Unity and Community
1.    Unity is strength, division is weakness. – Swahili
2.    Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. - Bondei
3.    It takes a village to raise a child. – African proverb
4.    Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you. - African proverb
5.    Many hands make light work. - Haya (Tanzania)
6.    Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. – Swahili
7.    Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. – Tanzania
8.    A single bracelet does not jingle. - Congo
9.    A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.
10.    If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. - African proverb

    Soul Sisters: African Art Metal Painting by Injete

African Quotes on Family
1.    A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place.
2.    A united family eats from the same plate. – Baganda
3.    A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.
4.    If I am in harmony with my family, that's success. – Ute
5.    Brothers love each other when they are equally rich.
6.    He who earns calamity, eats it with his family.
7.    Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. – Ethiopian
8.    The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth. - Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast)
9.    When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father's estate. – Ibo
10.    Children are the reward of life. 

            Heart Ornament Buy at Zazzle

African Love Quotes and Marriage Quotes
1.    He who loves the vase loves also what is inside. - African Proverb
2.    It's much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. ~African Proverb
3.    Coffee and love taste best when hot. ~Ethiopian Proverb
4.    Where there is love there is no darkness. ~Burundian Proverb
5.    If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love. - Zimbabwean Proverb
6.    Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you. ~African Proverb
7.    To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better. ~Wolof Proverb
8.    A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. - African Proverb
9.    If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. - Egyptian Proverb
10.    Love never gets lost it's only kept. ~African Proverb
11.    Never marry a woman who has bigger feet than you. – Mozambique
12.    One thread for the needle, one love for the heart. - Sudanese Proverb
13.    Love has to be shown by deeds not words. – Swahili
14.    Love is a despot who spares no one. ~Namibian Proverb
15.    Marriage is like a groundnut; you have to crack it to see what is inside. – Ghana

     Green Snail: Metal Art Painting by Injete
 
African Quotes on Patience
1.    Patience is the key which solves all problems. - Sudanese
2.    Hurry hurry has no blessings. – Swahili
3.    Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. - Bantu
4.    To run is not necessarily to arrive. - Swahili
5.    Patience can cook a stone.
6.    A patient man will eat ripe fruit.
7.    At the bottom of patience one finds heaven.
8.    A patient person never misses a thing. - Swahili
9.    Always being in a hurry does not prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. – Ibo
10.    However long the night, the dawn will break.

African Women: Proverbs, Poetry and Art

In keeping with the spirit of the New Year I decided to go back to my roots for some words of wisdom. Here are some African proverbs , poetry and art about women, friendship and motherhood.


     Three Flirts: Abstract African Art by Injete Chesoni

African Friendship Quotes
1. The friends of our friends are our friends. - Congo
2. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
3. To be without a friend is to be poor indeed. - Tanzania
4. Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house. - African proverb
5. Hold a true friend with both hands. - African proverb
6. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
7. Show me your friend and I will show you your character. - African proverb
8. Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends. - African proverb
9. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. - African proverb
10. Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. - African proverb
11. A small house will hold a hundred friends. - African proverb
12. A close friend can become a close enemy. - African proverb
13. Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. - Gabon

Seeds of Life: Abstract African Art by Injete

African Mother Quotes
1. The good mother knows what her children will eat. - Akan Proverb
2. Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters. - Ganda Proverb
3. Only a mother would carry the child that bites. - Nigerian Proverb
4. Even though the baby monkey appears so ugly it's mother loves it anyway. - African proverb
5. The mother hen does not break its own eggs. - Swahili Saying, Eastern Africa
6. He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world. - Kenya
7. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. - African proverb
8. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother. - African proverb
9. A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself. - African Proverb
10. Give birth to children and you will be pregnant with worries. - Namibian Proverb

    Sunset Dreams: African Art Piece by Injete

African Women Quotes
1. If men swear that they want to harm you when you are asleep, you can go to sleep. If women say so, stay awake. - African proverb
2. A woman can hide her love for 40 years, but her disgust and anger not for one day. - Arab Proverb
3. If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)." - Ghana
4. A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle. - African proverb
5. An old woman  is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. - African proverb
6. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it. - Ghana
7. You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. - Congolese
8. Do not desire a woman with beautiful breasts, if you have no money. - South African

     Friends: African Women Art Piece by Injete

On the way to the river  

African Womens' Poetry by Injete Chesoni
On the way to the river
We stop and catch up
On the latest village gossip
Two sisters, two girlfriends having a chat
We talk of Amadou
And how he has married wife number two
And of Seydou
And how he flew into a rage over
His wife Paige
And her horrendous cooking
He is now thinking about
kicking her out
All over cooking
We chuckle
Maybe we will give her a lesson or two
On how to prepare a meal for two
That’s sure to please and appease her man
Into letting her stay
If she wants to that is
We chat about Mama Lucy
And her cheating ways
Yesterday she was caught
In Chief Malay’s
Boat
In a compromising position
We whisper and blush
At the thought
Wishing we were as daring and free as she
But as for us
We are tied up by the chains of domesticity
And we must return to our chores
Of fetching water
And washing clothes
And all those other never-ending tasks
The daily life of a wife
Interrupted for a moment
As we live other people's lives
In our daily gossip on the way to the river

Inspirational Poetry and Art Calendar 2010

To celebrate the start of the New Year and inspire myself and others I have created an inspirational poetry and art calendar for 2010. This post has the inspirational quotes, affirmations, poetry and art from the calendar. Enjoy it and may all of you have a blessed New Year filled with love, joy, success and the fulfillment of your dreams. If you would like to buy the 2010 art calendar featuring my poetry and art work you can find it at my Zazzle Store.

JANUARY: DREAMS

As the sun sets on the horizon I watch it go down,
Tomorrow my new life will start,
In the gentle glow of dawn.
(Inspirational Poetry and African Art by Injete Chesoni)

FEBRUARY: LOVE'S INTERRUPTION
When love interrupts the pattern of your life
It creates a chaotic yet beautiful new design.
(Love Quotes and Abstract Art by Injete Chesoni)

MARCH: PEACE
I am peace personified,
I move in waves of tranquility across the sea of life.
(Affirmations, Peace Quotes and Abstract Art by Injete Chesoni)

APRIL: RENEWAL OF LIFE
After the cold comes the warmth

After the rain comes the sun
Nothing stays constant in this world of ours
Old lives must die and new ones be born.
(Abstract Art, Inspirational Poetry and Quotes by Injete Chesoni)

MAY: MOTHERS
Beautiful and delicate givers of life
Mothers are transformed
With the birth of their child
(Butterfly Art and Mother Quotes by Injete Chesoni)

JUNE: A TIME TO RE-CONSIDER
STOP!
For just one moment and consider
Save a moment of life just to ponder
The middle is always a good place to linger
When you have thoughts to re-consider
(Inspirational Poetry and Abstract Art by Injete Chesoni)

JULY: DANCING ACROSS THE STAGE OF LIFE
Dancing across the stage of life
Three sisters together dancing through time
Forming colorful, moving designs
That flow and change with the patterns of their lives
(Sister poems, Life poems and Sister Art by Injete Chesoni)

AUGUST: A SENSE OF EASE
(PLAYING MY OWN TUNE)
As I grow older and time passes me by
I begin to realize that this life is mine
To create and destroy and do as I please
And with this realization I am filled with ease
(Inspirational poetry and Abstract Art by Injete Chesoni)

SEPTEMBER: SHEDDING MY LEAVES
As the leaves change color and begin to fall
I release the weight I am carrying and shed it all
No need for baggage that weighs me down
I am traveling light from this day on
(Abstract Art , Affirmations and Inspirational poetry by Injete Chesoni)

OCTOBER: MOVING SLOW
Time will pass whether I move fast or slow
Therefore it matters not at which pace I go
What matters more is how
I spend each and every hour
(Inspirational Time Quotes and Snail Art by Injete Chesoni)

NOVEMBER: GRATITUDE
My pot runneth over with tears of gratitude
For the love in my life and the plenitude
(Abstract Art, Gratitude Quotes and Thanksgiving Quotes by Injete Chesoni)

DECEMBER: CELEBRATION
We gather at the table to celebrate the close of the year
With family and friends from far and near
What is a celebration without those we hold dear
(African Art, Family Quotes and Friend Quotes by Injete Chesoni)