La yagua que está pa' uno, no hay vaca que se la coma.

“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.

Chivo que rompe tambor, con su pellejo paga.

“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.

Más sabe el diablo por viejo, que por diablo.

“The devil knows more from being old than from being the devil.”

Experience and age teach more wisdom than natural cleverness alone.

El que tiene padrino se bautiza.

“He who has a godfather gets baptized.”

Having the right connections makes it far easier to get things done.

Un solo palo no hace el monte.

“A single tree does not make a forest.”

One person alone cannot achieve what a group working together can accomplish.

Perro no come perro.

“Dog does not eat dog.”

People of the same kind tend to protect one another rather than cause each other harm.