161 Sayings of Ethiopian Origin

1. "As the wound inflames the finger, so the thought inflames the mind." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

2. "A cat may go to a monastery, but will always remain a cat." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

3. "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

4. "Great men have big hearts." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

5. "The little stars will always shine while the great sun is often eclipsed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

6. "If they speak, they are wind; if they are silent, they are gourds." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

7. "A shameless person has no sense of shame at all." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

8. "One who runs alone cannot be outrun by another." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

9. "A bleating sheep loses a bite." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

10. "Don't spend the evening in a house where you can't spend the night." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

11. "Woman without man is like a field without seed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

12. "A house can't be built for the rainy season that is past." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

13. "One scoops with a scoop." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

14. "It is easy to become a monk in one's old age." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

15. "If you see that a town worships a calf, then cut the grass and feed it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

16. "Saying that it's for her child, she gets herself a loaf of bread." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

17. "You are like dew even before it rains." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

18. "A bird hanging between two branches will get bitten on both wings." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

19. "Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

20. "A too modest man goes hungry." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

21. "What one desires is always better than what one has." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

22. "A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

23. "Move your neck according to the music." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

24. "What has been blown away, cannot be found again." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

25. "When you are pepper, I am mustard; when thou art a needle, I am a knife." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

26. "A hyena intrudes through a gap a dog opened." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

27. "When the Nile knows a secret the desert will soon know it too." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

28. "Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying a grain in a bag with a hole in it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

29. "The cow knows the cowherd but not the owner." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

30. "No better witnesses than your own eyes." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

31. "The tail and repentance go behind." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

32. "Horns are not too heavy for the cow." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

33. "You cannot build a house for last year's summer." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

34. "It is foolish for someone to remain thirsty when he is in the midst of water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

35. "A fool will pair an ox with an elephant." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

36. "The fool is thirsty in the midst of water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

37. "When the heart overflows, it comes out through the mouth." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

38. "His mouth talks about Sheik Hussein but his hands are stretched up to the tree." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

39. "Termites live underground." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

40. "The nile has no resting place it wanderes around carrying a log." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

41. "The cattle is as good as the pasture in which it grazes." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

42. "Clothes put on while running come off while running." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

43. "The fool speaks, the wise man listens." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

44. "When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

45. "Who cannot yet walk, cannot climb a ladder." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

46. "A cow gave birth to a fire, she wanted to lick it, but it burned; she wanted to leave it, but she could not because it was her own child." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

47. "Don't catch a leopard by the tail, but if you do, don't let it go." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

48. "While trying to pull down something from the antique she lost what she had under her armpit." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

49. "Invite him as not to antagonize him, shove him off as not to let him eat." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

50. "He who digs too deep for a fish, may come out with a snake." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

51. "When one sets a portion for oneself, usually it is not too small." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

52. "The person who grew up without correction will find his mouth slipping instead of his foot." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

53. "What is inflated too much, will burst into fragments." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

54. "Even over cold pudding, the coward says, “It will burn my mouth”." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

55. "The skin creaks according to the country." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

56. "The witness of a rat is another rat." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

57. "Coffee is our bread." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

58. "Cactus is bitter only to him who tastes it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

59. "If the heart is sad, tears will flow." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

60. "Pride is no substitute for a dinner." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

61. "When a fool is cursed, he thinks he is being praised." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

62. "A good conversation is better than a good bed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

63. "He who lives with an ass, sounds like an ass." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

64. "One should punish a child the first time he comes home with a stolen egg. Otherwise, the day he returns home with a stolen ox, it will be too late." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

65. "When there are many women, the cabbage will be spoiled." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

66. "Give advice; if people don't listen, let adversity teach them." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

67. "Good name is better than good perfume." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

68. "The best of mankind is a farmer; the best food is fruit." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

69. "The heart of a fool is in his mouth and the mouth of the wise man is in his heart." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

70. "Invite him as not to antagonize him, shove him off as not to let him eat." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

71. "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

72. "The mouse is silent while laboring, but when the baby is conceived, she cries." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

73. "An eye and a friend are quickly hurt." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

74. "With man comes the quarrel." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

75. "A fool looks for dung where the cow never grazed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

76. "A close friend can become a close enemy." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

77. "If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

78. "Oh old hyena eat me without making excuses." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

79. "One who tries to hide with a dog, a child, a goat, or a person with a cold, will not remain hidden." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

80. "Whether it rains or stops raining, the lentils have two eyes." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

81. "The dog I bought, bit me; the fire I kindled burned me." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

82. "A loose tooth will not rest until it's pulled out." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

83. "He who wants to barter, usually knows what is best for him." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

84. "To one who knows no better, a small garden is a forest." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

85. "The beer is difficult to strain." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

86. "A silly daughter teaches her mother how to bear children." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

87. "The eye of the leopard is on the goat, and the eye of the goat is on the leaf." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

88. "It is better to be the cub of a live jackal than of a dead lion." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

89. "Regret, like a tail, comes at the end." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

90. "A powerful friend becomes a powerful enemy." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

91. "It is foolhardy to start a fire just to see the flames." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

92. "Mock the palm tree only when the date harvest is over." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

93. "He who learns, teaches." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

94. "The calves do not fear the horns of their mother." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

95. "He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

96. "Sitting is being crippled." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

97. "Men fear danger, women only the sight of it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

98. "I have a cow in the sky, but cannot drink her milk." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

99. "Eat when the food is ready; speak when the time is right." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

100. "The frog wanted to be as big as the elephant, and burst." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

101. "Do not hesitate or you will be left in between doing something, having something and being nothing." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

102. "Unless you call out, who will open the door?" (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

103. "The son of the Nile thirsts for water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

104. "A fool and water will go the way they are directed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

105. "Thorns prick lightly the man who walks slowly." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

106. "One is born, one dies; the land grows." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

107. "Restless feet may walk into a snake pit." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

108. "Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

109. "Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank Him for not giving it wings." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

110. "Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

111. "Because he killed his wife he took shelter with his in-laws." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

112. "Evil gotten, evil spent." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

113. "A blade won't cut another blade; a cheat won't cheat another cheat." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

114. "When one is prepared, difficulties do not come." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

115. "They snatched from me my own cry." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

116. "A fool is thirsty in the midst of water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

117. "One does not became fat because he broke a fast." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

118. "When they fooled the chicken they threw her into a carrying basket." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

119. "The arrogant blind man picks a fight with his guide." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

120. "What is taken for oneself is usually not a small piece." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

121. "One who plants grapes by the road side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

122. "When the hyena is gone, the dog begins to bark." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

123. "No one knows what the dawn will bring." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

124. "A good name is better than good perfume." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

125. "A coward sweats in water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

126. "The coward sweats in water." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

127. "Only the man who is not hungry says the coconut has a hard shell." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

128. "If you are going to go where corn grows, take a cutting tool with you." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

129. "The point of the needle must pass first." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

130. "It is like using a spoon to get water from the Nile." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

131. "There is no cure for him who hides an illness." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

132. "Snake at your feet, a stick at your hand!" (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

133. "A partner in the business will not put an obstacle to it." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

134. "A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

135. "He who knows much does not speak much." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

136. "Even if Christ's death could have been prevented, Judas would still be a traitor." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

137. "When he looked under the saddle he lost his horse." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

138. "There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

139. "The sky is so close for him who sits." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

140. "Where there is no shame, there is no honor." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

141. "Better an egg this year than a chicken next year." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

142. "If relatives help each other, what harm can be done to them?" (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

143. "You think of water when the well is empty." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

144. "Coffee and love taste best when hot." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

145. "You travel on until you return home; you live on until you return to earth." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

146. "The slimming of an elephant and the losses of a rich man are not noticeable." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

147. "A melancholic look is visible but not a melancholic heart." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

148. "Don't demand that what you write in the Nile will be read in the desert." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

149. "A fool at forty is a fool indeed." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

150. "You may well have two legs but you still can't climb two trees at the same time." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

151. "If a friend hurts you, run to your wife." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

152. "The first camel in the train holds everyone up, but it is the last which gets the beating." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

153. "One who recovers from sickness, forgets about God." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

154. "A mouse that wants to die goes to sniff the cat's nose." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

155. "Living is worthless for one without a home." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

156. "Sharing a secret with a rogue is like carrying grain in a bag with a hole." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

157. "Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

158. "He who has nothing to do, scatters and gathers." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

159. "O, sheep if I do not eat you, you will eat me, said the hyena." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

160. "The same water never runs into the same river." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet

 

161. "Fifty lemons are a load for one person, but for fifty persons they are perfume." (Ethiopian Sayings) Click to tweet