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Celebrating the Life of Chinua Achebe, The decorated Father of African Literature who died Last Week
Prof. Sheikh Umarr Kamara at Virginia State University has created a list of Proverbs from his most famous book, Things Fall Apart
1. He who brings kola brings life.
2. Proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
3. The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.
4. If a child washed his hands he could eat with Kings.
5. When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk.
6. A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.
7. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing.
8. An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.
9. Looking at a King’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast
10. When a man says yes, his chi says yes also.
11. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.
12. A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm.
13. If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is play.
14. What is good in one place is bad in another place.
15. If one finger brought oil it soiled the others.
16. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.
17. There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.
18. There is no story that is not true.
19. Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.
20. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle.
21. An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, a man asks his kinsman to scratch him.
22. As a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.
23. Men have learned to shoot without missing their mark and I have learned to fly without perching on a twig.
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