List Of African Proverbs On Parenting
Many of us are familiar with the Yoruba proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child” made popular by Hillary Clinton in the 1990s. However, there are many more Africa proverbs about parenting. Here is some of the sage advice and wisdom from Africa.
It is not hard to nurse a pregnancy, but it is hard to bring up a child. ~Swahili Proverb
When a four-year child is still crawling instead of walking it is time to cry out. ~African Proverb
The motherless child will suckle the grandmother. ~Bambara Proverb
Children will hate all those who give all things to them. ~African Proverb
A single hand cannot nurse a child. ~Swahili Proverb
A child’s lie is like a dead fish in a pond that in the end, always comes to the surface, explains his mother. ~Luo Proverb
Haste and hurry can only bear children with many regrets along the way. ~Senegalese Proverb
Train a child the way he should go and make sure you also go the same way. ~African Proverb
A child who is fearless is going to bring tears to his mother’s eyes. ~African Proverb
The art of negotiating is acquired from childhood. ~Congolese Proverb
A child who has no mother will not have scars to show on his back. ~Nigerian Proverb
By crawling, a child learns to stand. ~West African Proverb
What the child says, he has heard at home. ~Nigerian Proverb
If a child is not well-behaved, she is not sent by the mother to go alone to the market to buy things for her. ~Nigerian Proverb
A child one does not instruct on return, one instructs him when going. ~Bantu Proverb
When a child knows how to wash his hands well, he eats with the elders. ~Tshi Proverb
An immoral father-in-law cannot advise his children well. ~African Proverb
As you do for your ancestors, your children will do for you. ~African Proverb
You cannot beat a child to take away its tears. ~African Proverb
If your child is dancing clumsily, tell him: ‘you are dancing clumsily’; do not tell him: ‘darling, do as you please.’ ~Twi Proverb
A child who is to be successful is not to be reared exclusively on a bed of down. ~Akan Proverb
When a woman has ten children, there is nothing that happens in the night that she does not know about. ~Nigerian Proverb
A child who is carried on the back will not know how far the journey is. ~Nigerian Proverb
What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. ~African Proverb
A child brought up where there is always dancing cannot fail to dance. ~Nyanja Proverb
Respect a little child, and let it respect you. ~Bantu Proverb
When a man curses his own child it is a terrible thing. ~African Proverb
A child does not fear treading on dangerous ground until he or she gets hurt. ~Bukusu Proverb
When you take a knife away from a child, give him a piece of wood instead. ~Kenyan Proverb
It is the habit that a child forms at home, that follows them to their marriage. ~Nigerian Proverb
When you bear a grudge, your child will also bear a grudge. ~Rwandese Proverb
If a mother steals with a child strapped in the back what do you expect of the child. ~African Proverb
A child who fears beating, would never admit that he played with a missing knife. ~Nigerian Proverb
It is the duty of children to wait on elders, and not the elders on children. ~Kenyan Proverb
A child is what you put into him. ~Nigerian Proverb
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 Proverb
A child is a child of everyone. ~Sudanese Proverb
Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~Bantu Proverb
When the child falls the mother weeps; when the mother falls the child laughs. ~Rwandan Proverb
Too large a morsel chokes the child. ~Mauritanian Proverb
We desire to bequest two things to our children — the first one is roots; the other one is wings. ~Sudanese Proverb
When a child is asleep a mother’s attention is on the child’s stomach. ~African Proverb
It’s a bad child who does not take advice. ~Ashanti Proverb
The good mother knows what her children will eat. ~Akan Proverb
Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters. ~Ganda Proverb
A child is an axe; when it cuts you, you still pick it up and put it on your shoulder. ~Bemba Proverb
Only a mother would carry the child that bites. ~Nigerian Proverb
He who fears the crying of a child, will cry himself. ~Swahili Proverb
A child doesn’t breastfeed from a stepmother if its mother is still alive. ~African Proverb
Do not make the dress before the child is born. ~Tanzanian Proverb
You only understand the joys of parenthood when you have your first child, you only understand the mystery of death when in mourning. ~Bahaya Proverb