Wise and silly African proverbs

From time to time on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog I like to feature cool sayings from around the world, so on that theme, this week's blog post features a collection of African proverbs.

Some of the following African proverbs are very wise and meaningful, while others aren't quite so wise, and are just a bit silly. But which are silly, and which are wise? I'll let you decide...

Editor's note: For the benefit of stupid people, this is
not the actual sun. Merely an artistic representation.

1) "The same sun that melts the wax, also hardens the clay."

This is a clever way of saying that people react differently to similar circumstances. One person might use a difficult challenge to spur them on and achieve greatness. Another person might react to the same challenge negatively and use it as an excuse for failure.

I really like this African proverb and can imagine it being used in motivational talks, so you can probably guess which category I would place this proverb into. But what do you think?

Silly or wise?

However you interpret this proverb, make sure you
choose a better place to sleep than this goat!

2) "If men say they want to harm you when you are asleep, you can go to sleep. If women say so, stay awake."

Ha, ha! I'll have to be careful when I explain this African proverb!

Perhaps it means that men are sometimes liars whereas women tell the truth? Yes, I'm sure that's what it means...

Silly or wise?

3) "An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep."

"You want me to fight an army of what!?!"

This proverb stresses the importance of strategically exceptional leaders. However, the metaphor it uses is clearly completely false! Irrespective of who was leading them, if an army of lions took on an army of sheep, I know who my money would be on!

To clarify, I agree with the intended point behind this proverb, as strategically wise leaders are definitely important. However, I just think they could have picked a better metaphor, as sheep are never going to beat lions in a fight, even if Sun Tzu is leading them!

Silly or wise?

4) "An onion shared with a friend tastes like roast lamb."

Roast lamb.
Er ... I mean, onions.

I'm not sure of the meaning of this African proverb, but if I had to take a guess I would say it means, "People who write African proverbs and quite clearly total liars."

I don't know what onions they've been eating, but every onion I've ever eaten certainly tastes nothing like roast lamb!

Silly or wise?

5) "Whether you go fast or slow, you will surely die."

"Don't worry, there'll be another one along in four hours."

This is basically saying, 'Chill out and relax, because we all die in the end anyway.' I once spent three months in Africa, and from my experiences I can definitely confirm that the majority of African people totally follow this proverb, sometimes frustratingly so!

For example, one time a few of us were dashing to catch a ferry which was leaving in a few minutes, and the ticket seller was being extremely 'relaxed' (or slow, to use a less polite description) in selling us our tickets. When we asked if she could go a little quicker because we wanted to catch the ferry, she explained, "It's okay, if you miss that ferry there's another one in four hours."

We politely explained that we'd rather catch the ferry that left in five minutes, rather than the ferry that left in four hours, but the ticket seller didn't seem to grasp why this was such an issue!

Anyway, getting back to the proverb, whether you go slow like the ticket seller, or fast like we were trying to be, we all die eventually anyway.

Silly or wise?

A speech bubble which is clearly aimed at someone
who doesn't read the Charles Fudgemuffin blog.

6) "When the fool is told a proverb, its meaning has to be explained to him."

This means...

Actually, I'm confident that no fools read the Charles Fudgemuffin blog, so I'm sure I don't need to explain this proverb!

Silly or wise?

You can find more wise sayings (and also some stupid ones) at the links below:
Five stupid sayings (part 3)
Cool sayings from around the world (part 3)
10 interesting Japanese words and expressions