De cualquier palo podrido, sale un sijú.
“From any rotten log, a sijú owl can emerge.”
Something valuable or surprising can come from the humblest or most unlikely place.
— Traditional Cuba Wisdom, Cuba
Source: Traditional Cuban proverb (refrán cubano), public-domain oral tradition
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No cow can eat the palm bark that belongs to you.
What fate has set aside for a person cannot be taken away by anyone else.
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The goat that breaks the drum pays with its own hide.
Whoever causes the damage must be the one to pay for it; a saying rooted in the Afro-Cuban Abakuá tradition.
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Secure the fence in case someone pulls the vine.
Take precautions in advance, before trouble has a chance to arrive.
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The devil knows more from being old than from being the devil.
Experience and age teach more wisdom than natural cleverness alone.
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He who has a godfather gets baptized.
Having the right connections makes it far easier to get things done.
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A single tree does not make a forest.
One person alone cannot achieve what a group working together can accomplish.
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