Ghanaian Proverbs

• Two men in a burning house must not stop to argue.
• One cannot both feast and become rich.
• One tree cannot become a forest.
• Money is sharper than a sword.
• By going and coming a bird weaves its nest.
• It is not shame at all to work for money.
• The surface of water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on.
• He who tests the depth of the stream with both feet must be prepared to swim.
• If two selfish young men sit next to a pot of water, the water spills out on the ground.
• The parrot that knows how precious its feathers are does not build its nest by the roadside.
• Do not call the forest that shelters you a jungle.
• What the cat sees and turns its eyes away from, the dog sees and barks at.
• A lizard that knows how to hide grows to become a crocodile.
• The chicken is never declared in the court of hawks.
• The goat says: “They bought my mother, not I”.
• When you are sitting in your own house, you don’t lean anything. You must get out of your house to learn.
• The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.
• The wise is spoken to in proverbs, not plain language.
• Let not what you cannot do deter you from what you can do.
• A child who asks questions does not become a fool.
• It is the fool whose own tomatoes are sold to him.
• Do not follow the path, go where there is not path to begin a trail.
• The chicken also knows when it’s morning, but still watches the mouth of the cock.
• It is the calm and silent water that downs a man.
• Although the snake does not fly it catches the bird whose home is in the sky.
• However long a log stays in the water it will never become a crocodile.
• Hate has no medicine.
• Rain beats a leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots.
• If you want someone more knowledgeable than yourself to identify a bird you do not first remove the feathers.
• Knowledge is like a baobab tree; no one can encompass it with their hands.
• Nobody can prepare for harmattan by drinking plenty of water.
• One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.