“If you pick up too much, some of it will fall.”
Overreaching for more than you can hold means losing part of what you already gained.
— Traditional Equatorial Guinea Wisdom, Equatorial Guinea
Source: Traditional Fang proverb, shared Bantu oral tradition across Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from Equatorial Guinea
A dog that is determined to go astray will not wait to listen to the voice of the master.
Someone set on doing wrong will ignore every warning and piece of guidance offered to them.
Any river that forgets its source will definitely dry up.
A person or community that loses touch with its roots and heritage eventually withers.
The rabbit that stays in a hole must be ready to face the hunter's fire.
Hiding from a problem instead of confronting it still carries its own risks.
He that learns to eat without reservation must also learn to starve.
A person who consumes everything without restraint should expect a season of scarcity in return.
A monkey left behind laughs at the others' tails.
It is easy to mock the struggles of others while ignoring one's own shortcomings.
The search for a black fowl should always be done before darkness falls.
Difficult tasks should be handled early, before circumstances make them even harder.