110 Sayings of Malagasy Origin

1. "Behave like the chameleon, look forward and observe behind." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

2. "They who drink the water from the Manangareza River always come back to Madagascar." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

3. "Do not treat your loved one like a swinging door, you are fond of it but you push it back and forth." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

4. "The child of a rat is a rat." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

5. "Sorrow is like rice in an attic, you use a little every day and at the end it is all gone." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

6. "One can't give a grasshopper to a child if one has not caught it yet." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

7. "The sin for which you repent is the father of virtue; but a virtue that you talk about, is the mother of sin." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

8. "Distracted by what is far away, he does not see his nose." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

9. "Let your love be like the misty rains, coming softly, but flooding the river." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

10. "You may well have caught a bird, but have you a fire to roast it on?" (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

11. "The dying person cannot wait for the shroud to be woven." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

12. "When you treat someone like a wild cat, he will steal your chickens." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

13. "Wealth is like hair in the nose, it hurts to be separated whether from a little or from a lot." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

14. "Greet everyone cordially when you don't know who your in-laws are going to be." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

15. "Roosters tail feathers, pretty but always behind." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

16. "Don't be so in love that you can't tell when rain is coming." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

17. "Those who know how to swim are the ones who sink." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

18. "Don't be so much in love that you can't tell when it's raining." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

19. "Even the bottom of a basket finds something to hold." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

20. "Marriage is not a tight knot, but a slip knot." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

21. "It is better to refuse than to accept and not to go." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

22. "Don't praise your wife before a year." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

23. "When the king reigns it is thanks to the people; when a river sings it's thanks to the stones." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

24. "The king inherits a country, the people only hard work." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

25. "The dog's bark is not might, but fright." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

26. "May your friendship not be like a stone, if it breaks you cannot put the pieces together. May it be like iron, when it breaks, you can weld the pieces back together." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

27. "A fortuneteller says, “If it's not a boy, it will be a girl”." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

28. "The earth is God's bride, she feeds the living and cherishes the dead." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

29. "Money is like a guest, it comes today, leaves tomorrow." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

30. "As long as the mouse keeps still you can be sure that the cat stays on guard." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

31. "Iron does not clang by itself." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

32. "Divorce a young woman and you make another man happy." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

33. "An egg does not fight a rock." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

34. "The earth is a giant cooking pot and men are the meat therein." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

35. "You can catch a cricket in your hand but its song is all over the field." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

36. "If the hill is on fire the grasshoppers are roasted." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

37. "Idleness moves so slowly that it will be overtaken by misery." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

38. "Do not be like a miser who saves for those who will bury him." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

39. "By getting angry, you show you are wrong." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

40. "Crows are black everywhere." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

41. "When you are looking for a country with no tombstones you will find yourself in the land of cannibals." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

42. "Advice is a stranger; if he's welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

43. "Those who rush things too much, without reflection, can be surpassed by those who take their time." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

44. "Be like the mouth and the hand, when the hand is hurt the mouth blows on it, when the mouth is hurt the hand rubs it." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

45. "Cross in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

46. "From all the fish in the pot you can only make one soup." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

47. "If you try to cleanse others, just like soap, you will waste away in the process!" (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

48. "Disgraced like a man whose own pet bites him." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

49. "However little food we have, we'll share it even if it's only one locust." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

50. "Ants can attack with a grain of rice." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

51. "Debts make the thief." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

52. "A chicken that hatches a crocodile's eggs is looking for trouble." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

53. "To love the law is to lose money." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

54. "Nothing is as full of victory as patience." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

55. "Do not waste your time looking for soft ground to drive your spade in." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

56. "A patient that can swallow food makes the nurse doubtful." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

57. "If we don't fight we remain equals, if we do fight then one of us wins." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

58. "A canoe does not know who is king. When it turns over, everyone gets wet." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

59. "Govern a country as you would roast a crocodile on a spit." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

60. "Flatters, like rats, tickle and then bite." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

61. "Words are like the spider's web, a shelter for the clever ones and a trap for the not-so-clever." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

62. "Flint and gunpowder, every time they meet there is an explosion." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

63. "It is the softness of the lime that is fatal to the bird." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

64. "You can't blame the axe for the noise made by the chicken you are about to slaughter." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

65. "If love is torn apart you cannot stitch the pieces together again." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

66. "The end of an ox is beef, and the end of a lie is grief." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

67. "To deny God's existence is like jumping with your eyes closed." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

68. "He is truly hungry who accepts defeat in a fight over meat." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

69. "Beware of French people who pretend to quarrel with each other, they will join together to fight you." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

70. "All who live under the sky are woven together like one big mat." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

71. "Only thin dogs become wild." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

72. "The barking dog gives you no power, it gives you fear." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

73. "The night brings wisdom." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

74. "Better to lose a little money than a little friendship." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

75. "Love is like young rice, plant it elsewhere, still it grows." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

76. "Crosses are ladders that lead to heaven." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

77. "Don't blame the axe for the noise made by the chicken you are about to slaughter." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

78. "Even the dead in their family vaults enjoy being in large company." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

79. "Do not kick away the canoe which helped you to cross the river." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

80. "One does not like hot, the other does not like cold; make it tepid to make an agreement." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

81. "If the stone is not milky, its owner will generally not obtain the best price from it." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

82. "The lazy man who goes to borrow a spade says, “I hope I will not find one”." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

83. "Nothing is so difficult that diligence cannot master it." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

84. "Do not scare the birds you are going to shoot." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

85. "Poverty won't allow him to lift up his head; dignity won't allow him to bow it down." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

86. "Truth is like sugar cane; even if you chew it for a long time, it is still sweet." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

87. "Sadness is a valuable treasure, only discovered in people you love." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

88. "If you sell a drum in your own village, you get the money and keep the sound." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

89. "When the ducks are quacking the frogs take it as a warning." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

90. "Indecision is like the stepchild, if he doesn't wash his hands, he is called dirty; if he does, he is wasting the water." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

91. "Don't help a bull out of a ditch, for when he's out he'll butt you." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

92. "Words go further than bullets." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

93. "It is not the fire in the fireplace which warms the house, but the couple who get along well." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

94. "Don't kick a sleeping dog." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

95. "You can't catch a louse with one finger." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

96. "Power corrupts." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

97. "Life is a shadow and a mist; it passes quickly by, and is no more." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

98. "Friendship reminds us of fathers, love of mothers." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

99. "Better to be guilty in the eyes of men than in the eyes of God." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

100. "When the crocodiles leave, the Caymans come." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

101. "A man who lets his problems get the better of him is like the man who divorces his wife the first time she makes him angry." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

102. "You think you are strong like the corn plant, yet the bean vine is already choking you." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

103. "Words are like eggs, when they are hatched they have wings." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

104. "Sick people are like kings." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

105. "Living is not a reward and dying is no crime." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

106. "Whichever hand is cut, the whole body feels the pain." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

107. "Don't take a second mouthful before you have swallowed the first." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

108. "The food which is prepared has no master." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

109. "Do not measure up the wood before the tree is cut down." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet

 

110. "A starving crocodile is never pleasant." (Malagasy Sayings) Click to tweet