Proverbs (Thimo)

Goodness begin at home

Meaning: Means charity begins at home.

It is always the potato of another family boy that extinguishers the fire. The proverb alludes to the custom of roasting potatoes in the embers of a dying fire.

Meaning: Nobody calls himself rogue.

The mouth that ate the seeds asks, 'Now what shall I plant?'

Meaning: He sups ill who eats up all at dinner.

The food that is in the mouth is not yet in the belly.

Meaning:

The Kikuyu know how to conceal their quiver, but do not know how to conceal their secrets.

Meaning: The kikuyu, though very clever in concealing their arms, cannot keep secrets from the members of their tribe.

Wives and oxen have no friends.

Meaning: There are things which are not be given to friends .

When there is shortage of figs, birds eat the fruits of the muguma.

Meaning: The tree called mugumo by the natives bears little fruits that are not eaten by birds when there is plenty of other food.

The forest of an unpleasant person is the one that has trees.

Meaning: The proverb means that evil -doers often do prosper.

"You cannot make an appointment with death".

Meaning: It means that death is unpredictable, and no one can schedule or plan when their life will end.

"Strength does not correspond with courage".

Meaning: Being physically large or strong does not automatically mean a person has the internal fortitude or boldness to face difficult or dangerous situations.

"Strength has no wealth".

Meaning: Being physically strong or using brute force does not guarantee wealth, success, or material possessions.

Every case begins from the stomach

Meaning: The kikuyu have an ox or a goat killed, roasted and distributed to judges at the beginning of every case.

Every case begins from the stomach

Meaning: The kikuyu have an ox or a goat killed, roasted and distributed to judges at the beginning of every case.

No one regrets things when leaving, but rather when they return.

Meaning: People often leave or act with high confidence, ignoring warnings or needs.

What is masai is not in kikuyu.

Meaning: There is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

Another person's mouth cannot take an oath for you.

Meaning: Every bird must hatch its own egg.

What is in the stomach/belly does not unfold or reveal itself.

Meaning: Tell the truth and shame the devil .

The dunghill grows by straws thrown upon it.

Meaning: Every little helps.

You cannot rob a leopard of its cub while it is awake

Meaning: You should never underestimate someone or try to take away what rightfully and fiercely belongs to them

A brave warrior does not fear consequences .

Meaning: A person of action must be willing to take risks and face the difficult outcomes or criticisms that come with making tough decisions.

He is a man that looks after money as njuu looks after locusts.

Meaning: Njuu is a bird which accompanies migrating locusts to feed on them.

Two wives are two pots full of poison.

Meaning: The more women you have in your house, the more troubles you must expect.

Men do not know liberity

Meaning: One does not give without hope of return

Live men do not lack work

Meaning: life would be too smooth if it had no rubs in it.

The elders drink afterwards.

Meaning: Elderly people are not in such a hurry as young ones.

Bought things do not fill the granary.

Meaning: Do not hope to become rich without cultivating your fields.

The buying of a wife begins from a little thing.

Meaning: Great events have small beginnings.

The window's sons have no tears.

Meaning: It means that they have been accustomed to suffer very early

The lawsuit of a fool keeps the court all day

Meaning: The lawsuit of a fool never comes to an end.

We speak by proverb; he who is intelligent will understand .

Meaning:

He who adorns himself knows to what to what sort of dance he is going .

Meaning: The is a reason for everthing.

The fool takes many people with him"

Meaning: A fool cannot bear his own company.

The piece of cloth that is sometimes the one that leads you to the highway.

Meaning:

The grove of the heart is not laid open.

Meaning: It means that a person's inner thoughts, deep emotions, or true intentions are private and cannot be fully seen or exposed by others.

A secret agreement enabled people to kill watatua.

Meaning: Watatua was a powerful Chief, invincible in open combat, who was killed at night by a few men.

Every feast has its gets of honor.

Meaning: It means that every special event, gathering, or undertaking has a specific person for whom it is truly meant or who holds the highest importance in that context.

"To wait is not to tremble"

Meaning: Its deeper meaning is that men's actions or situations should not be judged at first sight, and that patience is a sign of calm confidence rather than fear or weakness.

"To wait is not to tremble"

Meaning: Its deeper meaning is that men's actions or situations should not be judged at first sight, and that patience is a sign of calm confidence rather than fear or weakness.

"To wait is not to tremble"

Meaning: Its deeper meaning is that men's actions or situations should not be judged at first sight, and that patience is a sign of calm confidence rather than fear or weakness.

Lying is a thief's stronghold.

Meaning: It means that a person who does wrong or steals will always try to deny it fiercely, as denial is their main defense.

He who does not know, knows after being told.

Meaning: A man forewarned is forearmed.

"The only thing that is good though old is the muratina .

Meaning: Unlike most things that lose value, break down, or become useless as they get old, muratina becomes better and more potent with age when used to ferment traditional brew (njohi).

Beggars have no worries

Meaning: It highlights that a destitute person who owns nothing does not carry the mental anxieties, burdens, or heartaches of managing, protecting, or losing wealth. An English equivalent is "Poverty needs no granary" or "Beggars have no worries.

Beggars have no worries

Meaning: It highlights that a destitute person who owns nothing does not carry the mental anxieties, burdens, or heartaches of managing, protecting, or losing wealth. An English equivalent is "Poverty needs no granary" or "Beggars have no worries.

Beggars have no worries

Meaning: It highlights that a destitute person who owns nothing does not carry the mental anxieties, burdens, or heartaches of managing, protecting, or losing wealth. An English equivalent is "Poverty needs no granary" or "Beggars have no worries.

Talking something over is better than leaving it pending.

Meaning: Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

"There is no one of the stomach and one of the back."

Meaning: It means that all people—especially children in a family or members of a community—deserve equal love, fairness, and care.

"A wily or crafty person does not walk on dry leaves".

Meaning: Metaphorically, it means that a cunning or guilty person is extremely cautious and avoids doing things that would expose their secrets, presence, or wrong doings .

"Resist the beginnings"

Meaning: "Stop it before it grows too big/overpowers you."

"The cow is given a present when her calf is taken away".

Meaning: when one thing causes you distress or loss, another thing comes along to console or compensate you.

"Great haste breaks the yam tuber instead of taking it out whole".

Meaning: Haste trips up its own heels

Stolen things bring in misfortune.

Meaning: Ill-gotten goods seldom prosper.

A plant loses its blossom as soon at it bears fruits.

Meaning: Woman's beauty is spoilt by maternity.

A little idleness lost a tilled field.

Meaning: A little idleness leak can sink a great ship.

Men have got quills

Meaning: Do not annoy others because they will respond by hurting

The property of a helpless man must nit be divided before his death.

Meaning: The reason is that he is unable to get anything more than he already possesses.

Ten helpless people were surpassed by a single strong person.

Meaning: One strong person is better than ten helpless ones.

A little, contemptible path is sometimes the one that leads you to the highway.

Meaning: Small beginnings, humble approaches, or overlooked details can lead to big, important outcomes

Nobody cries that has not been pinched.

Meaning: No smoke without fire.

Darkness caused to dance even him who cannot.

Meaning: All cats are the same in colour at night

Gicegu of many men is not good.

Meaning: Gicegu is that part of the kikuyu hut where they enclose the ram in order to fatten it. To many cooks spoils the broth.

A piece of land is not a little thing.

Meaning: The proverb means that however small the field you possesses, it has its importance if you work it.

By staying always in the same place one gets lice.

Meaning: The world is a great book, of which they that never stir from home read only page.

The land enriches not the person who clears it, but the person who comes after it is cleared.

Meaning: It means that the heavy initial labor of starting a project or opening up land often benefits later comers rather than the original pioneer.

The chest contains a beehive full of pride.

Meaning: Proud people means that proud people have always in store lots of reasons justifying their wickedness.

Nobody grumbles while carrying a load, but [they start] grumbling when they have laid it down on the ground.

Meaning: When a person is actively engaged in a task, journey, or responsibility, they often keep quiet and push through the physical or mental weight.

A single hand cannot tie a bundle

Meaning: Stresses cooperation and collective effort

Fools rejoice for a bad thing.

Meaning: A fool will laugh when he is drowning.

The son of the leopard scratches like its mother.

Meaning: Like father like son.

One finger does not kill a louse.

Meaning: Union is strength

The stream does not pass over an old stone [through respect to its age].

Meaning: Old age is honourable.

A son as cunning as his father knows the arrows like his father.

Meaning: Like carpenter like chips.

"A knife and a shaving-knife are alike.

Meaning: If you do not have something you need, you will have something you can use instead. Necessity is the mother of invention.

The blessed knife [son] eats of the meat of the kinandu.

Meaning: Kinadu is a small calabash used to keep oil, fat and the best morsels of meat. They say that the father shares the contents of the kinandu with the most beloved son.

He who is full does not understand what is told[about others' troubles.

Meaning: Another's burden does not worry us.

The rambling pole cat leaves its house when there is a banquet.

Meaning: The son that leaves his father's house for liberty's sake will not share his father's inheritance.

Kamau who is white becomes black

Meaning: Kamau is typical name. Proverb means there is nothing constant in this word.

"A little idleness (or procrastination) causes the ruin of the beehive".

Meaning: It is a traditional kĩkũyũ wise saying used to warn people against neglect, laziness, and putting off important tasks.

A group of people lifts a mortal.

Meaning: Many hands make light work

The whetstone in the village does not blunt the knife.

Meaning: Every potter praises his own pots.

Take an oath only for the hand you slept on.

Meaning: Swear only to what which you know to be true.

The mouth is a chink

Meaning: From the mouth come many futilities

The mouth sells the head.

Meaning: The tongue talks at the head's cost.

You spoke with your own mouth.

Meaning: Means that one can condemn oneself in defending oneself.

A small red snuff-box or calabash is a welcome.

Meaning: Refers to a kikuyu custom of giving a pinch of snuff to their friends when they meet.

The little bird that flaps its wings too much will ruin/spoil them.

Meaning: One must crawl before one can walk.

He who is stricken knows how to defend himself.

Meaning: A scalded cat fears even cold water" or "Once bitten, twice shy.

It is not the owner, trampling his own field, that spoils it (but the others).

Meaning: This proverb originates from farming life. If a farmer has a bad harvest, they will often blame passersby who walked across their plantation rather than admitting their own mistakes or poor farming practices.

A person will change his mind on something if left to sleep over it.

Meaning: Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.

That which spends the night steps on itself: A person will change their mind on something if left to sleep over it.

Meaning: It encourages patience and reflection when making heavy choices or during a heated conflict. In Gikũyũ culture, it reminds individuals that a night of rest brings clarity, cools down anger, and allows a person to approach a situation with a clear, transformed mindset the next day.

A prophet copies a prophet" or "A shooter copies a shooter.

Meaning: People of the same trade, character, or lineage tend to mimic or exhibit identical traits. It is most frequently applied when children naturally inherit the behaviors, skills, or mannerisms of their parents

The shoe is made for the foot that will wear it or Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches or To each their own.

Meaning: You are the best judge of your own life, choices, and circumstances.

The child who rejects his mother does not get full, fat or satisfied.

Meaning: Stubbornly refusing help, guidance, or the proper source of sustenance out of pride or anger only hurts yourself.

The sleeping dog is turned over with a stick

Meaning: Do not stir up old troubles, dormant conflicts, or a quiet person who is at peace.

The mouth that has saliva does not lack words.

Meaning: The proverb means that the man who something to say will say it.

The food eaten first lasts longest in the stomach.

Meaning: First impressions are most lasting.

A grain of millet grown on the road will bear no ears.

Meaning: A pot that belongs to many is ill stirred and worse boiled.

The song that lacks a lead singer goes wrong

Meaning: Without proper leadership, guidance, or a clear coordinator, plans or organizations easily lose direction and fail.

The elders of the council do not jump over the brook.

Meaning: The elders who are to judge a case must not hurry. Often means that a person like a judge should not to do anything undignified.

A really good thing is ever good.

Meaning: A good tale is none the worse for being twice told.

Grain stored is better than a promise.

Meaning: Values preparation and tangible results over empty words

A visitor is like a flowing river.

Meaning: A guest is only passing through and will eventually leave, so treat them with utmost hospitality while they are with you.

A brave woman does not leave the elephant's tusk behind.

Meaning: When you set out to achieve a difficult task, you must be determined to finish it completely without giving up halfway.

A man without a wife is like a tree without branches

Meaning: Highlights the importance of partnership and family

A stick without a tree cannot stand

Meaning: Everything depends on its source; respect your roots.

A farmer's hands/arms should not be broken.

Meaning: It means one shouldn't discourage or harm someone who provides for them.

A wise person is the one who is advised.

Meaning: To gain wisdom one should listen to advise, listen and learn from others. One must be ready for guidance.

The cow that bellows is not the one that bites.

Meaning: Words are not always matched by action.

Stored firewood laughs at the bring firewood

Meaning: People laugh and make fun of those in trouble yet are next in line.

Family disputes are not judged in public

Meaning: Stresses discretion and resolving issues privately.

Old age cannot be washed away in the river.

Meaning: Certain realities of life, like aging or past mistakes, are inevitable and permanent. You must accept them rather than fighting them.

Unity is strength

Meaning: Its shows how people should work together to succeed, it encourages team work.