“Knowledge is only a rumor until it is in the muscle.”
Learning is not real or trustworthy until it has been tested and proven through actual practice and experience.
— Traditional Papua New Guinea Wisdom, Papua New Guinea
Source: Traditional Papua New Guinea proverb, public-domain oral tradition; widely cited in English-language proverb collections (e.g. Goodreads "Papua New Guinea Proverb" quotes)
More Proverbs from Papua New Guinea
Rise up from the ashes.
A message of hope and resilience adopted after the Bougainville conflict, encouraging recovery and a better, self-determined future.
Do what you can, and God will take care of what you cannot do.
Effort paired with faith is enough; divine grace is trusted to complete what human strength alone cannot finish.
Time cannot come back again. It goes, and it goes completely.
Time, once spent, can never be recovered or reused, so it should not be wasted.
Money is not life.
Wealth is secondary to caring for the true needs of family and loved ones.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of the Lord will never pass away.
Earthly things are temporary, but God's word is held to endure forever.
The container filled with water breaks right at the door.
A long effort or investment can still fail at the very last moment, right before it is completed.