Ser bueno es el único modo de ser dichoso; ser culto es el único modo de ser libre.
“To be good is the only way to be happy; to be cultured is the only way to be free.”
True happiness comes from moral goodness, and true freedom comes from education and culture.
— José Martí, Cuba
Source: José Martí, "Maestros Ambulantes," La América magazine, New York (May 1884)
More Proverbs from Cuba
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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