Ugandan Proverbs (001-051)

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The chicken is never declared innocent in the court of hawks.

We work on the surface, the depths are a mystery.

A crime eats its own child.

A cow’s horn cannot kill its calf.

A dog cannot bark and bite at the same time.

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A dog does not enter a home where they suffer from hunger.

A dog knows the places he is thrown food.

A home without a mother is a desert.

A man who dictates separates himself from others.

A friend works in the light of the sun, an enemy in the dark.

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A knife does not fear thorns, a woman fears man.

A friend is like a water source for a long journey.

A friend is someone you share the path with.

A friend is like a source of water during a long voyage.

A father without sons is like a bow without arrows.

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A pilgrim, even if a sultan, is poor.

A camel does not joke about the hump of another camel.

A monkey cannot dare what an elephant can.

A mother's tenderness for her children is
as discreet as the dwe that kisses the earth.

A forest cannot be cut with a broken axe.

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A guest is a gift, a thief a tragedy.

A united family eats from the same plate.

A water pot cannot stand on its own without a support.

A rich man who does not know himself is
worth less than a poor man who does.

A youth that does not cultivate friendship
with the elderly is like a tree without roots.

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A village never lacks a beautiful young woman.

A roaring lion does not catch any prey.

A sorcerer has no distinctive colour.

A sandstorm passes; the stars remain.

A stranger does not skin a sheep
that is paid as a fine at a chief's court.

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A village without elderly is like a well without water.

A united family eats from the same plate.

A raindrop does not spare the head of the notable.

Also the black cow produces white milk.

An elder's handbag is never completely empty.

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Be on the alert, like the red ant that
moves with its claws wide open.

Between brothers, whether the trial is
won or lost, makes no difference.

Clothes should not be made for an unborn child.

Death is like a dress that, at some point
or another, everyone has to wear.

Disease is like a rainy day.
Good health is like sunshine.
It takes both to grow flowers.

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Do not vacillate or you will be left in between doing something
having something and being nothing.

Do they prepare a leather battle shield on the day they fight?

Do not tell the man carrying you that he stinks.

Does a man set up a plantation without a wife?

During a storm you do not take shelter under just one roofing tile.

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During the dry season it is better to
befriend the owner of the pirogue.

Elderliness is not a disease, but a richness.

Equality is difficult, but superiority is painful.

Even the small leopard is called leopard.

Every man leaves his footprints.

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Ugandan Proverbs (051-100)

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Evil penetrates like a needle and then becomes like an oak tree.

Flies' legs, like the tongue of critics, land on whatever they find.

From the word of an elder is derived a bone.

God provides for the blind vulture.

Good actions are nourishment for youths,
much more than words.

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Harsh words hurt more than a poisonous arrow.

He flees from the roaring lion to the crouching lion.

Hunger pushes the hippopotamus out of the water.

I have to learn how to walk on three legs
says the hyena for when I am old.

If one is roasting two potatoes, one of them i
s bound to get charred.

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If God breaks your leg, He will teach you how to limp.

If a frog leaves the swamp for the mountains, it means it is in danger.

If the metal is not good, you cannot take it out on the blacksmith.

If the tiger sits, do not think it is out of respect.

If you chase away an ant,
all the ants will come and bite you.

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If he is not lost, do not look for him.

If you shake a dog, you shake his owner.

If you don't respect your parents, you were cursed.

If you kill a little hippopotamus, you also kill his mother.

If you have a lot, give some of your possessions;
if you have little; give some of your heart.

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Instruction in youth is like engraving in stones.

It is better that trials come to you
in the beginning than in the end.

It is better to have no law than not enforcing it.

It is easier to transport an ant hill
than exercise authority in a village.

It is the youth who rebuilds the ruins.

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It is easy to pull a thorn out of someone else's skin.

Let rats shoot arrows at each other.

Little by little the bird builds its nest.

Look for a black goat while it is still daytime.

Love is like a rice plant; transplanted, it can grow elsewhere.

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Mother is God number two.

No matter how full the river is, it wants to swell further.

Old and new millet seeds end up in the same mill.

Once the mushroom has sprouted
from the earth, there is no turning back.

One who sees something good must narrate it.

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One who is crazy for meat hunts buffalo.

Only the feet of the voyager know the path.

Only the owner can free his home from mice.

Passion and hatred are children of intoxicating beverages.

Stretch your legs the length of your bed.

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Sweet and sour walk hand in hand.

The hunter that speaks too much, goes home empty handed.

The good looks of a moron do not stay that way for long.

The bridge is repaired only when someone falls in the water.

The eyes of hunter cries every time he makes a kill.

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The bull should be taken by the horns, a man at his word.

The drums of war are the drums of hunger.

The death of an elderly man is like a burning library.

The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry.

The heart of an evil person is never pure.

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Ugandan Proverbs (101-150)

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The goat eats the grass where it is tied.

The frog does not run in the daytime for nothing.

The elephant dies, but his tusks remain.

The best blessing for a good harvest is
a pumpkin full of sweat.

The haughty blind person picks a fight with his guide.

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The dog never forgets its owner.

The day never turns back again.

The best of mankind is a farmer; the best food is fruit.

The elephant never gets tired of carrying its tusks.

The woman finds an empty house,
she doesn’t find riches.

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The one who sees the beauty doesn't see the difference.

The new moon cannot come until the other has gone.

The wise are as rare as eagles that fly high in the sky.

The wiseman's promises are like dew on the field.

The wisdom of the elderly is like the sun,
it illuminates the whole village.

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The owner of the dog does not obey his dog.

The injured animal is covered with flies.

The tracks of the elephant cancels those of the antelope.

The wind does not break a tree that bends.

The weak warrior wearing sandals overcomes
the brave with a thorn in his foot.

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The mouth makes debts, but the arms pay.

The hunter knows his prey.

The river swells from the little streams.

The owner of the house knows where his roof leaks.

The tears running down your face do not blind you.

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The water pot presses upon the small circular pad.

The rich is never satisfied.

The hyena sleeps with the sheep.

The leopard's skin is beautiful, but his heart evil.

The nose of a cow feeds among thorn trees
and shows no scars.

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The worm that gnaws on the bean is the one inside the bean.

The reddish-brown biting ant that breaks away from
the trail is the one that turns into the big black ant.

The voyager's path is marked by the stars
and not the sand dunes.

The rainmaker who doesn't know what he's doing
will be found out by the lack of clouds.

The moon lightens well but leaves certain areas in the dark.

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The paw prints of a leopard are not trodden on by a dog.

The one chased away with a club comes back,
but the one chased for a reason doesn’t.

The patience of a young girl brings joy to the parents;
at the end it brings celebration.

The tail of the cow watches to the right and left.

The jaws have nothing to chew if the feet do not walk.

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The thread follows the needle.

The thoughts of the wise
are like stars in the galaxy: never ending.

The people to whom things belong
are the same people who are greedy.

The thorn will come out from where it went in.

The person who has not traveled widely
thinks their mother is the greatest cook.

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There is always room for the people you love,
even if the house is crowded.

There is no hiding place on the water surface.

There is more wisdom in listening than in speaking.

They share only water from the well.

Those who respect the elderly
pave their own road toward success.

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Ugandan Proverbs (151-190)

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Those who waste time only hurt themselves.

Those who arrive to the spring first, drink the purest water.

Though the leopard is fierce, it does not devour its cubs.

Until the old moon disappears completely,
the new moon cannot come.

Until the snake is dead, do not drop the stick.

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Walking in two is medicine.

What the chief likes is not always what the youths like.

What an elder can see while sitting,
a child cannot see while standing.

What you recognize as deadly will not kill you.

When a lion roars, he does not catch game.

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When the leg does not walk, the stomach does not eat.

When your finger is in pain, your sight is not lazy.

When the webs of the spider join, they can trap a lion

When the soup sours, the orphan
gets an unusually large amount.

When an enemy digs a grave for you,
God gives you an emergency exit.

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When an elephant combats, it is the grass that suffers.

When the lion gets old even flies attack him.

When weeds invade the land, it means the owner is absent.

Where there is peace, a sickle can be used
to shave your beard or cut your hair.

Where the cattle does not graze, the warriors pass.

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Who made the drum knows best what is inside.

Who guards two termite hills, returns empty handed.

Who wakes and rises at the first cry of the songbird
collects the best fruit of the night.

Who mistrusts everybody is the real enemy of the village.

Wind makes more noise among the trees.

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Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.

Without effort no harvest will be abundant.

Women give birth with other women.

Work done in the right way rewards
both the employer and the employee.

Working in the fields is hard, but hunger is harder.

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You can hide a mark on your skin, but not a defect.

You do not teach a giraffe to run.

You can not take away someone's luck.

You suffer from smoke produced
the firewood you fetched yourself.

You cannot hide the smoke of the hut you set on fire.

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You cannot teach the old gorilla the road.

You don't need pain killers for another man's headache.

You would not entrust an old cooking pot to
the care of a friend or associate.

Youths talk first and then listen,
the elderly listen and then talk.

Youths look at the future, the elderly at the past,
our ancestors live in the present.

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A roaring lion kills no game. ~ Ugandan Proverb [15406]

Photo by Tambako the Jaguar
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/494118044/)
[CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

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Photo by Ben Rudiak-Gould
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