“If you don't leave power, power will leave you.”
Explaining his decision to respect constitutional term limits, Kérékou framed voluntarily stepping down as wiser than clinging to power until it is stripped away.
— mathieu-kerekou, Benin
Source: Mathieu Kérékou, remarks on his 2005-2006 departure from Benin's presidency, quoted in "Mathieu Kerekou: Complicated Former Longtime President of Benin, Dies," Arsenal For Democracy (2015), corroborated by his West Africa Gateway biography
More Proverbs from Benin
Silence is an attribute of the dead; he who is alive speaks.
Living, engaged people communicate; withdrawing into silence is a kind of death.
Anyone who sees beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor.
Failing to notice and appreciate the good things in life leads to a poorer existence.
Work is the medicine for poverty.
Labor and effort are the true remedy for hardship and want.
The world is a journey; the afterworld is home.
Earthly life is temporary travel, while the true, lasting home lies beyond it.
A great affair covers up a small matter.
A major issue easily overshadows and hides a lesser one.
Anyone who plants a tree before they die has not lived in vain.
Leaving something lasting behind gives a life meaning and purpose.