Une seule main ne peut pas nouer un fagot.
“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.
— Ivorian Oral Tradition, Côte d'Ivoire
Source: Traditional Ivorian proverb, West African oral tradition
More Proverbs from Côte d'Ivoire
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.