The Ovambo people, also called Aawambo or Ovawambo, are a Southern African tribal ethnic group. They are the largest ethnic group of Namibia
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Old people’s talk is not scorned; they saw the sun first.
The leaf of a tree does not speak, nor does the road tell the traveler what lies ahead.
Without a husband you are naked, without a companion you are in need.
One elephant does not raise a cloud of dust.
The cowless man cannot get rid of his poverty.
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No fence is built for the eyes.
A bad thing leads to good fortune.
A wicked heart is poverty; hate is hunger.
The lazy man is not ashamed of begging.
One cannot send other people's children without giving them anything.
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Start from the bottom to reach the top.
Many are cursed for the crime of one.
A stump is left where the tree was felled.
A big cow is known by its hooves.
Trouble has its reward.
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A gun that does not go off leaves its owner in peril.
A wanderer with a mouth will not get lost.
Water from a salt well puts out a house on fire.
Man knows where he came from but not where he is going.
Even a slow walker will arrive.
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An heir also inherits quarrels.
The early wanderer found a turtle.
A hen with chicks is on the lookout for crows.
A poor man's property does not increase.
A jackal will not gore a bull.
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The friend of a quarrel picker is quarrelsome.
A word of peace redeems a crime.
If you do not have thoughts you do not have understanding.
There is not a bird that does not know its eggs.
One cannot get beans out of wild melons.
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An old man is not to be laughed at.
There is not one game without an end.
Eyes are great wealth.
A traveler will not consume all his provisions.
A raven desires colorfulness just as an unenterprising man desires cattle.
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The dead man is abused.
Many kings do not rule the same country at the same time.
It is pleasant to wag one's tongue about other people's business.
Stupidity does not tolerate wisdom.
An old dog does not fight with a whelp.
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One does not cross a river with a fool.
New clothes have no lice.
He who committed a mortal sin carries a spear.
The tongue is harder than a stick.
A child is not scolded while he eats.
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A child much spoken of does not get very far.
One does not go into the bush with valuables.
There is no hardship that will not end, no trouble that will not retreat.
An orphan is not in the habit of weeping.
A thoughtless man is known by his speech.
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He who complains about everything brings home trouble.
Let him who shook the fruit down pick them too.
A house without a housewife is not a house.
A cranky child has not been spanked.
Illness is followed by death, leaving home by staying away.
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There is no fire when there is no wood.
Even the proud man has to die; even the defiant will turn to dust.
Hostility does not give birth to a child.
He who has bad breath cannot smell it.
Every man has a name.
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He who guards himself will not perish.
You cannot do without water, even if it drowned your child.
In a crowd one neither gets well fed nor starves.
There is no hardship without an end, no game without a parting.
The sun does not rise for one man alone.
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Big bones are not cooked in the same pot.
Do not break the branch you climbed.
When a poor man cries for help, only God will aid him.
A wealthy person is a selfish person.
Stupidity is in the mouth.
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A cow among calves does not grow old.
Little birds do not plunge into arrows.
The ox will not flee the hare.
Place value on defending your home.
Do not light a torch from both ends.
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A tree does not bear fruit before it is full grown.
He whose head has been cut off does not walk.
If you do not gather firewood you cannot keep warm.
Peace at home takes war to other countries.
If the leader of the hunting party gets tired, then all are tired.
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No warrior without hardships.
Wolves discuss the back of the leader.
A mouse with but one hole easily meets its death.
Peace is more fattening than food.
Peace is not sold for evil.
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A supposed antelope is not cooking in the pot.
The end of the journey is reached by moving ahead.
The young elephant is born with a thick skin.
He who has neither father nor mother has no wisdom.
The arrow you dropped will be collected by someone else.
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A mouse eats the food in the house.
Cat and mouse cannot be neighbors long.
There must be peace in the district to have law and order in the country.
People are not alike like guinea fowl, nor identical like quail.
Do not put off today's work till tomorrow.
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A bat is not a bird.
A wealthy person is a selfish person.
The frog would like to have wings.
Small termites collapse the roof.
Do not belittle the wife, she is the home.
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Ovambo Proverbs (101-223)
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A bird has its weight, though a mere feather.
A puppy does not hunt rabbits with a big dog.
A poor man is recognized by his sandals.
Moonlight does not dry the malt.
The bone given to you by the king is meat.
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Though a cow wanders here and there it does not trample its young.
All work asks for diligence.
A pot in the wind does not cook.
A fool laughs at himself.
The post supports the roof and keeps it from falling in the hut.
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A weapon in the workroom will not help you when you are to be mauled.
If you applaud with one hand it will not be heard.
The little goat follows its kind.
Do not go between the knife and the sheath.
Let everyone sweep his own floor.
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The porridge is cooled on the top.
A parasite cannot live alone.
God needs no help when he cuts wood.
Old frogs like croaking.
God speaks a foreign tongue.
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Cleverness and stupidity go together.
Those who live together cannot hide their behinds from each other.
The neighbor's field is easy to hoe.
A glutton is never satisfied.
Every little bird has a long beak.
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A new broom sweeps well.
Cunning is followed by foolishness.
An old dog does not growl for nothing.
The cowared follows his mother.
The ears do not lose their interest.
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Even a small axe is better than striking with a stick.
If earth had a mouth it would defend many.
The death of many is not wailed.
He who pets dogs must be childless.
He who is sweating with hate cannot rule the country.
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No one is a blacksmith at birth.
Even a blind wife is better than no wife at all.
A dogless hunter must crawl in the hole himself.
An axe is sharp on soft wood.
Hate does not build a house, it dissolves.
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Even a goat has his habits.
Curiosity caused the roebuck to be shot in the eye.
The color does not come off a zebra.
A gift is not despised.
A quarrelsome girl will not be married.
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Hunger is a good cook.
A rich man is known by his house.
The elephant does not see the fruit seed.
If a child does not resemble its father, it resembles its mother.
The fruit at the tips of branches are good.
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A promise is a loan.
Where there was a skunk there is a smell.
A weed loves the field, a lazy man loves eating.
A storm destroys the field, bad manners destroy the country.
God belongs to rich and poor alike.
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A seducer is worse than a witch.
One spark burned down a forest.
A braggart is known by his headgear.
With your mother you will not want, but alone you will.
Where the elephant died you can tell by the bones.
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He who will not give you a bone will not give you meat.
A word of peace redeems a crime.
God does not let his eggs spoil.
That which leaks cannot stay full.
A child who does not fear his father and mother will not live long.
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The frost will surely pass.
A stubborn man brings in a snake for a hairdo.
The cobra knows its length.
An old dog does not growl for nothing.
He who pets dogs must be childless.
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An old dog does not fight with a whelp.
The little bird starts with one straw.
The flatterer walks the middle of the road.
Staying and staring is the death of the buck.
Two lions equal ten hyenas.
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Whoever does not lie does not stay alive.
It is pleasant to spread rumors about the quarrels in other people's houses.
You cannot avoid what lies in ambush for you.
Where the chief walks, there questions are decided.
When the lion roars the hyena is quiet.
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Though a tree does not bear fruit, it is not cut down.
A son is the bone of hard times.
Sleep is not compared with death.
A goat is not a dog; one's own child is not a slave.
One does not fight with a spitting snake.
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When one cow has started to move it raises the others from their rest.
Do not go between a spear and a bull.
Big snakes do not live in the same hole.
Wisdom cannot be bought for money.
The stomach is the power of the legs.
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Where there are birds there is water.
He to whom things are brought does not know the length of the road.
Hunger teaches you how to chew melon seeds.
If you go first you will not drink muddy water.
One cannot teach wisdom to a fool.
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The road does not advise a man.
Though your mother be poor, she is still your mother.
A small shed becomes a house.
The drum knows its owner's hands.
Authority does not depend on age.
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One does not put a hyena among goats.
A trickle of water is better than no water.
He who does not speak does not argue.
A hunter does not get rich with his companion's game.
There is life and death in the quiver.
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He who argues builds no roads.
Trying again and again is better than stopping halfway.
Even a weak lion is not bitten by a dog.
Looking carefully is understanding.
A man is not a dog.
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Beans are not equal to meat.
A climbing plant does not stay alone.
A well-fed man does not give thanks.
You can tell lovers from there faces.
There is not enough room for two elephants to rest in the same shade.
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If you do not have patience you cannot make beer.
A carpenter is not a blacksmith.
A tadpole becomes a frog.
Noisy talk does not bring about a solution.
The world is a cattle post where the herdsman serves one day, another tomorrow.
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Where there are birds there is cattle.
In a hut one does not get wet, among the bulls one does not starve to death.
The world does not belong to the staring buck, but to the fox that is not eaten tomorrow.
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Ovambo Proverbs (001-100)
