“Respecting old people, listening to their instructions, and giving priority to the teaching they give you helps you become a good, respected, and successful person.”
Respect your elders and follow their guidance — it brings lasting benefit and success in life.
— Traditional Papua New Guinea Wisdom, Papua New Guinea
Source: Traditional Papua New Guinea proverb (Jimi Valley region); collected in Ted and Rachel Henderson, "PNG Proverbs," missionary blog (2015), from Papua New Guinea College of Nursing students at Kudjip for World Trade Press AtoZ World Culture
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.