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Ethiopian Proverbs (33)

A trial between brothers has no winners or losers.

A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.

A village without elderly is unhappy.

As long as fire stays in one’s breast, it does not cool down.

Do not blame God for having created the tiger,
but thank him for not giving it wings.

Eggs should never be beaten with stones.

Eggs and metal should not be put in the same sack.

Equality is not easy, but superiority is painful.

Eyes watch but cannot take.

Great fires erupt from tiny sparks.

If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn.

Intelligence is a fruit picked in the nieghbor's garden.

It is better to be kind to our neighbours than to cross
the world to offer incense to our ancestors.

It is not possible to dodge the arrow before it has been thrown.

One rind is enough to tie a thousand pieces of wood.

Praise and truth are revealed slowly.

Sorrow is like rice in the store; if a basketful is
removed everyday, it will come to an end at last.

The same water never runs into the same river.

The monkey is a thief because it does not work.

The chief's wisdom is a mesh of old stories, good and bad.

The heart is not a knee, it does not bend.

The camel does not see the bend in its neck.

The sore is cured but the scar remains..

The leopard does not eat fish.
A leader does not waste time on minutia.

Those of the mean people are consumed on the celebration day.

Unity is strength, division is weakness.

Wearing a mended dress is better than being naked.

When cutting, look at the age of the machete.

When your neighbour is wrong you point a finger,
but when you are wrong you hide.

Who created thunder does not fear it.

Whoever walks out cannot leave a banana on the fire.

Whoever walks with unworthy people becomes unworthy.

You think of water when the well is empty.

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