Nan ngon ì kóò ngon.

“A child's maternal uncle is, in truth, a second mother.”

A mother's brother owes his sister's children the same care and closeness a mother would, reflecting how deeply family duty runs through the maternal line.

Oo ya màdi à, oon yai o.

“Listen to what is said of your friend, and listen for yourself as well.”

Criticism spoken about someone else is often a lesson worth applying to oneself, since the same faults rarely belong to only one person.

Ngon àw mba tá, gèr mba.

“First the child sets out on the road, and only then does he come to know the stranger.”

Real understanding of other people and customs comes only through the experience of traveling and meeting them, not by staying home.

Yò ì mende, ré màdí ún à, ún o.

“Death is like the game of méndé: if your friend plays, play beside him.”

In hardship and mourning, as in a shared game, true friends stand together and take their turn at each other's side.

Màn à gang, bà bbo à gang àlé.

“The rain can stop falling, but hunger never stops.”

Basic needs such as hunger allow for no pause, so the work needed to meet them must continue whatever the weather brings.

Kùm ì ngè-bbol, bà ji ì ngè-ra.

“The eyes are afraid, but it is the hands that do the work.”

A task may look frightening from a distance, but it is action, not fear, that actually gets the work done.