Traditional Gambia Wisdom

“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.