Gambia Proverbs (50)

“If a donkey kicks you and you kick back, you are both donkeys.”

Responding to foolishness with more foolishness only lowers you to the same level.

“An adult squatting down sees farther than a child standing on top of a tree.”

Age and experience often perceive more than youth and height alone.

“A fly that has no one to advise it follows the corpse into the grave.”

Those who refuse guidance can be led straight into their own ruin.

“Giant silk-cotton trees grow out of very tiny seeds.”

Great things have humble beginnings; a small start can grow into something immense.

“However black a cow is, its milk is always white.”

A person's outward appearance does not determine the goodness of what they produce.

“No matter how long a log stays in the water, it will never become a crocodile.”

Similar circumstances do not change something's fundamental nature.

“If a child's hands are clean, he can eat with the elders.”

Merit and good conduct earn a person a place among their elders, regardless of age.

“A child who denies their mother a night's sleep will also stay awake.”

Trouble caused to others tends to return and trouble the one who caused it.

Boto kensengo buka lo no.

“An empty bag cannot stand.”

Something with no substance behind it cannot hold itself up; a person needs real resources to endure.

“The house-roof fights with the rain, but he who is sheltered beneath it ignores the struggle.”

Those protected by another's effort rarely notice the burden being carried on their behalf.

“To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better.”

Loyalty flowing down from those in power is worth more than devotion offered upward alone.

“Allah does not destroy the men whom one hates.”

Wishing harm on an enemy does not summon divine punishment; hatred alone changes nothing.

Faroolu meŋ be naaneeriŋ, woolu le jiyoo ka bori ñoo kaŋ.

“Rice fields that share a border also share the same water.”

Neighbors are bound together by circumstance and must depend on one another to thrive.

Dooma-dooma le ka noo wuluu.

“Little by little gives birth to ability.”

Skill and mastery are built gradually through steady, repeated effort.

Ninaa joo mu ninaa le ti.

“The reward for goodness is goodness.”

Kind and generous conduct tends to be repaid in kind over time.

Tooñaa mu mesendoo le ti; dindiŋo si a je, keebaa fanaa si a je.

“Truth is like a needle: both the young and the old can find it.”

Honest wisdom is accessible to anyone willing to search for it, regardless of age.

Faloo buka sawuŋ a diŋo ye ŋunuma.

“A donkey does not gallop so that its foal will crawl.”

Children take their example from the conduct their elders actually show them.

Kebaa siitoo ka meŋ je, diŋo lootoo buka a je.

“What the elder sees while sitting, the child does not see while standing.”

Long experience grants a depth of perception that youth alone cannot match.

Ninsoo meŋ be faala saama, i buka a binoo kala bii.

“Do not measure the horns of the cow that will be slaughtered tomorrow.”

Do not count on a gain, however certain it appears, before it is actually in hand.

Moo kuwo teh dunia la, moo kendo kuwo lay bang dunia la.

“There are many people in the world, but truly good people are few.”

Genuine goodness of character is rarer than mere numbers of people might suggest.

Seno ka baŋ neŋ, bari kunkoo naanoo buka baŋ.

“The farming season ends, but the boundary of the farm remains.”

A season's work may finish, but the marks and consequences of it endure long after.

“The scorpion's nature is to sting; it never abandons it.”

A person's true character eventually reveals itself, no matter how it is disguised.

Munyal deefan hayre.

“Patience can cook a stone.”

With enough patience and endurance, even the hardest, most stubborn problems can eventually be softened.

“If the cattle die, the Fulbe die.”

A pastoral people's fate and identity are bound inseparably to the herds that sustain them.

Jangal nit ki napp moo gën di ko may xaalis.

“Teaching a person to fish is better than giving them money.”

Equipping someone with a lasting skill helps them more than a one-time gift ever could.

Yakkamti yakkule.

“Haste brings loss.”

Rushing carelessly through a task tends to cost more than it saves.

Lu metti yaggul, te ku mun mun.

“What is painful does not last forever, and the patient one endures.”

Hard times pass in time, and patience carries a person safely through them.

“The fruits of some trees look alike, but they are eaten very differently.”

Things that appear similar on the outside can be completely different in substance.

“An elder standing in the dark still knows his place, even when others do not.”

Long experience gives a person a sense of position and judgment that does not depend on what can be seen.

“One basket can be covered by another basket.”

Someone stronger or greater can always overshadow one who came before.

“Death is a robe that everyone must wear.”

Mortality is a garment no one escapes, rich or poor, so it should be met without fear or shame.

“A student does not know what it means to be a master, but a master remembers what it was to be a student.”

Experience teaches understanding that inexperience cannot yet grasp; the wise stay patient with beginners.

Pooli wo kawritan de iida.

“Unless birds come together, no flapping sound is heard.”

Cooperation produces a strength and presence that no individual can achieve alone.

Juude didi lootundurta de laaba.

“Two hands wash each other clean.”

People who help one another accomplish more, and more thoroughly, than anyone working alone.

Lobbe rimata lobbal.

“A good cow gives birth to a good calf.”

Good qualities and upbringing tend to pass from one generation to the next.

“If a man says he will swallow an axe, hold the handle steady for him.”

Support someone's bold resolve rather than doubt it, and let their own effort prove whether it can be done.

Duroowo paabi, kam anndi layooru.

“The shepherd of frogs knows which ones are limping.”

Someone close to a situation notices details and distinctions that an outsider would miss entirely.

“Do not try to make someone hate the one he loves — he will go on loving them, and end up hating only you.”

Attacking a person's loyalty to someone they love rarely works, and it usually turns their resentment back onto you.

“There can be no peace without understanding.”

Real harmony between people requires that they first make an effort to understand one another.

“What a child says, he has heard at home.”

A child's words reveal what is truly said and modeled by the family raising them.

“The dog that has left the house has no master.”

Loyalty and belonging depend on staying connected; walk away, and you forfeit the claim to protection.

Ndankndank mooy japp golo ci ñaay.

“Slowly, slowly, one catches the monkey in the forest.”

Great skill and patience, applied steadily, succeed where haste and force would fail.

Xaaral ba ginaar sax bëñ.

“Wait until the chicken grows teeth.”

Some promises or excuses are really just waiting for something that will never happen.

Saabu du foot boppam.

“Soap does not wash itself.”

Even the most capable tool or person needs someone else to put it to use; no one truly manages entirely alone.

Nit nitay garabam.

“A person's medicine is other people.”

Human beings heal, support, and complete one another; community itself is a form of remedy.

Xamxam dafay weey, xaalis dày jeex.

“Knowledge endures; money runs out.”

Wealth can be spent away, but what a person has truly learned stays with them for life.

Bor du am rakk.

“Debt has no younger relative.”

A debt must be repaid in full regardless of family ties or excuses; obligation shows no favoritism.

Yalla yalla bay sa tool.

“It is better to farm your field than to pray for it.”

Faith and prayer matter, but they do not replace the work needed to actually produce a harvest.

Ku yàgg ci teen bagg fekk la fa.

“Whoever waits patiently at the well will eventually find a bucket.”

Patience positions a person to receive good fortune when the right moment finally arrives.

Ku bëgg akara dangay ñeme kaani.

“Whoever wants the fritter must be brave enough for the pepper.”

Anything worth having comes bundled with some discomfort or risk that must be accepted to earn it.