In The Spirit Of Kwanzaa

Proverbs for Kwanzaa

Umoja (Unity)

December 26: Day One of Kwanzaa
 United family eats from the same plate. —South Africa (Zulu)
 Unity is strength. —Zanzibar
 Unity among the cattle makes the lion lie down hungry. —Africa
 Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. —Tanzania, Kenya
 A person is a person because of other persons. —Lesotho
 “The heavens will fall" is not the concern of only one individual. —Africa
 The wisdom of the white man depends on togetherness. —Ghana
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)

December 27: Day Two of Kwanzaa
 To ride a horse is good; to walk on your own feet is better. —Mali
 No one can scratch your itch or convey your message like yourself. —Ethiopia
 If you rely on someone else's soup pot, you go to bed hungry. —Ghana (Akan)
 If you borrow a man’s legs, you will go where he directs you. —Africa
 If your hand is in someone's mouth, you do not hit him on the top of the head. —Ghana
 Each firefly lights its own way. —Haiti
 If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself. —Liberia (Jabo)
 Blessed are those who can please themselves. —South Africa (Zulu)
Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility)

December 28: Day Three of Kwanzaa
 Ants are tiny, but they lift things that are many times their size and weight. —Africa
 What is looked for by many will have a finder. —Uganda (Ganda)
 When minds are the same, that which is far off will come. —East Africa
 If one kindles the fire, others take live coals out of it. —Ghana (Twi)
 If birds travel without coordination, they beat each other’s wings. —Kiswahili
 When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. —Ethiopia
 Thin and lean strings when braided together can tie up the mighty lion. —Ethiopia
 The failure of snakes to travel in groups makes it easy for humans to kill them with machetes. —Africa
 Two skinny and weak dogs can overcome a fierce animal. —Burundi (Rundi)
 Make a bed for the children of other people in the place where your own children sleep. —Morocco
Proverbs for Kwanzaa | 2
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Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)

December 29: Day Four of Kwanzaa
 If you sell a drum in your own village, you get the money and keep the sound. —Madagascar
 Money does not stay in one place. —Ghana (Akan)
 No one in the presence of a large sum of money goes hungry to bed. —Ghana (Akan)
 If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. —Ghana (Twi)
 You gain interest only on what you invest. —Lesotho
 You cannot get rich if you look after your relatives properly. —Native American (Navajo)
 Little and often fills the purse. —Tanzania (Zanzibar)
 Generosity is wealth. —Africa
 One person does not build a town. —Ghana (Akan)
 Eat alone, hungry alone. —Virgin Islands
Nia (Purpose)

December 30: Day Five of Kwanzaa
 Accomplishment of purpose is better than making a profit. —Niger, Nigeria (Hausa)
 A good purpose is like a doctor and evil purpose corrupts. —Tanzania (Zanzibar)
 If you do not build your house firmly, you are afraid to sleep in it. — Ghana (Twi)
 If the dance is pleasing, even the lame crawl to it. —Ghana (Twi)
 The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people. —Ghana (Ashanti)
Kuumba (Creativity)

December 31: Day Six of Kwanzaa
 The wind and the imagination can travel far and wide at no cost. —Ethiopia
 Although the snake does not fly, it has caught the bird whose home is in the sky. —Ghana (Akan)
 A stumble is not a fall. —Haiti
 Do not stop children having fun; otherwise, they will also stop your serious work. —Gambia (Mandinka)
 The creator of a dance should not be excluded from it. —Ghana (Akan)
 A creature is not completely created until death. —Kiswahili
 If you don't desire a thing, you will never get it. —Africa
Imani (Faith)

January 1: Day Seven of Kwanzaa
 It is the body of the wind that people do not see. —Uganda
 The trees that are growing are tomorrow’s forest. —Zambia
 The following day begins with a lot of hope. —Uganda, Congo
 The darkness of night cannot stop the light of morning. —Burundi
 You don't give up to despair before God. —Burundi
 Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it. —Ethiopia
 Only a fool believes that the clouds obscure the splendor of the moon. It has shined behind them for eternity. —Africa