Tu ne peux pas avoir la peau du lion sans l'avoir tué.
“You cannot have the lion's skin without having killed the lion.”
There is no reward without the effort and risk needed to earn it.
— Ivorian Oral Tradition, Côte d'Ivoire
Source: Wiktionnaire, "Annexe:Liste de proverbes ivoiriens" — listed as a Baoulé proverb
More Proverbs from Côte d'Ivoire
One hand alone cannot tie up a bundle.
Cooperation accomplishes what no individual can manage alone — a call to community solidarity and shared effort over solitary struggle.
The river that forgets its source will one day run dry.
A person or people who lose respect for their origins, elders, and traditions eventually lose their own strength and identity.
With patience, even a stone becomes soft enough to cook.
Persistence and calm endurance can soften the hardest problems over time — nothing is truly impossible for one who does not rush.
The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.
A widely shared West African saying warning that a community which neglects its young will eventually suffer the consequences of that neglect — belonging and care are protective, not optional.
Wisdom is like a baobab tree — no one person can wrap their arms around it alone.
No single individual holds all knowledge or truth; real understanding comes from gathering the insight of many people together.
A transplanted tree will never give shade as sweet as the one that grew where it stood.
Nothing fully replaces one's original home or roots, even when replanted somewhere better.