Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. Inspirational african quotes will fire up your brain and inspire you to look at life differently while making you laugh.
If you’re searching for amazing proverbs that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of inspiring Irish proverbs, powerful Asian proverbs and famous Ghanaian proverbs.
Most Famous African Quotes
Wisdom is wealth. – Swahili
A bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground. – Igbo proverb
Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. – Akan proverb
Only a fool tests the depth of a river with no feet. – African proverb
He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad manhimself. – African proverb
The fool speaks, the wise man listens. – Ethiopian proverb
Where water is the boss there the land must obey. – African proverb
Wisdom does not come overnight. – Somali proverb
No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. – African proverb
Nobody is born wise. – African proverb
The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water. – Cameroon proverb
When the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is sweet. – Ethiopian proverb
Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others. – Hema (DRC) proverb
A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. – African proverb
Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem. – Akan proverb
Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. – Guinean proverb
In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. – Nigerian proverb
If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom. – African proverb
A wise person will always find a way. – Tanzanian proverb
A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning. – Kenyan proverb
Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. – Akan proverb
Learning expands great souls. – Namibian proverb
To get lost is to learn the way. – African proverb
By crawling a child learns to stand. – African proverb
Beautiful African Quotes
If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents. – African proverb
He who learns, teaches. – Ethiopian proverb
Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases. – Swahili proverb
By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree. – Buganda proverb
You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. – African proverb
You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down. – Bateke proverb
The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat. – African proverb
What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. – African proverb
By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed. – Ashanti proverb
One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. – African proverb
You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. – Congolese proverb
What you learn is what you die with. – African proverb
Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone. – Moroccan Proverb
When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him. – Ashanti Proverb
Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off. – African Proverb
Advice is a stranger; if he’s welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day. – Malagasy Proverb
If you do not have patience you cannot make beer. – Ovambo proverb
Traveling is learning. – Kenyan Proverb
He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace. – African proverb
Where there are experts there will be no lack of learners. – Swahili Proverb
Teeth do not see poverty.
Peace is costly but it is worth the expense. – Kenyan proverb
Empowering African Quotes
You have little power over what’s not yours. – Zimbabwean proverb
War has no eyes – Swahili saying
If you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other. – Ethiopian proverb
When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful. – Ashanti proverb
When you befriend a chief remember that he sits on a rope. – Ugandan proverb
Peace does not make a good ruler. – Botswana proverb
The night has ears. – Masai proverb
A fight between grasshoppers is a joy to the crow. – Lesotho proverb
There can be no peace without understanding. – Senegalese proverb
Milk and honey have different colors, but they share the same house peacefully. – African proverb
If you can’t resolve your problems in peace, you can’t solve war. – Somalian proverb
When there is peace in the country, the chief does not carry a shield. – Ugandan proverb
When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled. – Swahili saying
Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. – West African proverb
He who thinks he is leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk. – Malawian proverb
An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. – Ghanaian proverb
He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it. – Ugandan proverb
Do not forget what is to be a sailor because of being a captain yourself. – Tanzanian proverb
Without a leader, black ants are confused. – Ugandan proverb
He who refuses to obey cannot command. – Kenyan proverb
He who fears the sun will not become chief. – Ugandan proverb
A large chair does not make a king. – Sudanese proverb
Because he lost his reputation, he lost a kingdom. – Ethiopian proverb
Where a woman rules, streams run uphill. – Ethiopian proverb
A leader who does not take advice is not a leader. – Kenyan proverb
If the cockroach wants to rule over the chicken, then it must hire the fox as a body-guard. – Sierra Leone proverb
Unity is strength, division is weakness. – Swahili proverb
Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. – Bondei proverb
It takes a village to raise a child. – African proverb
Wise African Quotes About Life, Love and Change
Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. – African proverb
Many hands make light work. – Haya (Tanzania) proverb
Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. – Swahili proverb
Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. – Tanzanian proverb
A single bracelet does not jingle. – Congolese proverb
A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. – African proverb
The child you sired hasn’t sired you. – Somali proverb
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. – African proverb
A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction. – Nigerian proverb
A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place. – African Proverb
An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. – Senegalese proverb
A united family eats from the same plate. – Baganda proverb
If you carry the egg basket do not dance. – Ambede proverb
A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. – African proverb
If I am in harmony with my family, that’s success. – Ute proverb
Brothers love each other when they are equally rich. – African proverb
Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. – Ethiopian proverb
There is no fool who is disowned by his family. – African proverb
The food which is prepared has no master. – Malagasy proverb
The worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open. – Zambian proverb
Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. – African proverb
The child of a rat is a rat. – Malagasy proverb
Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in youth. – Yoruba proverb
Home affairs are not talked about on the public square. – African proverb
If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them? – African proverb
He who earns calamity, eats it with his family. – African proverb
The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth. – Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast) proverb
He who is unable to dance says that the yard is stony. – Masai proverb
You cannot name a child that is not born. – African proverb
Do a good deed and throw it into the sea. – Egyptian proverb
When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches. – Nigerian proverb
Slander by the stream will be heard by the frogs. – Mozambican proverb
When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father’s estate. – Ibo proverb
Children are the reward of life. – African proverb
To be without a friend is to be poor indeed. – Tanzanian proverb
Hold a true friend with both hands. – African proverb
The friends of our friends are our friends. – Congolese proverb
A child is a child of everyone. – Sudanese proverb
Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against flies. – Ghanaian proverb
Birds sing not because they have answers but because they have songs. – African proverb
If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. – Gambian proverb
When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger. – Zambian proverb
It is crooked wood that shows the best sculptor. – African proverb
One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn’t feel the cold. – Fipa proverb
Earth is the queen of beds. – Namibian proverb
Be a mountain or lean on one. – Somali proverb
A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea. – Kenyan proverb
Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. – Ewe proverb
A friend is someone you share the path with. – African proverb
Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations ü- William Burchell
Show me your friend and I will show you your character. – African proverb
Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. – African proverb
Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. – African proverb
I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses – Nelson Mandela
A small house will hold a hundred friends. – African proverb
Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water — W Fields
Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. – Gabon proverb
The death of an elderly man is like a burning library. – Ivorian proverb
Anger and madness are brothers. – African proverb
Few can sojourn long within the unspoilt wilderness of a game sanctuary, surrounded on all sides by its confiding animals, without absorbing its atmosphere; the Spirit of the Wild is quick to assert supremacy, and no man of any sensibility can resist her – James Stevenson-Hamilton
When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find out that it is the same in all her music – Karen Blixen
Do not follow a person who is running away. – Kenyan proverb
It’s really beautiful. It feels like God visits everywhere else, but lives in Africa – Will Smith
If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa – John Hemingway
Africa is mystic; it is wild; it is a sweltering inferno; it is a photographer’s paradise, a hunter’s Valhalla, an escapist’s Utopia. It is what you will, and it withstands all interpretations. It is the last vestige of a dead world or the cradle of a shiny new one. To a lot of people, as to myself, it is just home – Beryl Markham
An orphaned calf licks its own back. – Kenyan proverb
I dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself – Nelson Mandela
Maybe that is why you seem to live more vividly in Africa. The drama of life there is amplified by its constant proximity to death. That’s what infuses it with tension. It is the essence of its tragedy too. People love harder there. Love is the way that life forgets that it is terminal. Love is life’s alibi in the face of death – Peter Godwin
Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands. – Nigerian proverb
He who burns down his house knows why ashes cost a fortune. – African proverb
When you leave Africa, as the plane lifts, you feel that more than leaving a continent you’re leaving state of mind. Whatever awaits you at the other end of your journey will be of a different order of existence – Francesca Marciano
If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? – Rwandan proverb
You cannot build a house for last year’s summer. – Ethiopian proverb
To witness that calm rhythm of life revives our worn souls and recaptures a feeling of belonging to the natural world. No one can return from the Serengeti unchanged, for tawny lions will forever prowl our memory and great herds throng our imagination – George Schaller
You know you are truly alive when you’re living among lions – Isak Dinesen
In Africa you have space… there is a profound sense of space here, space and sky – Thabo Mbeki
We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings. – Sudanese proverb
