Zambian Proverbs

Zambian Proverbs echo wisdom from many tongues along the Zambezi. Shaped by village life, the Copperbelt’s mines, and 1964 independence, they praise cooperation, respect for elders, and steady courage.

Many are the eyes of the person whose spouse commits adultery. (Zambian Proverb)
When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
Where God cooks, there is no smoke. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
You can trust your brother, your father, your mother, but never your wife. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A fat woman warms even the coldest the night. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A monkey that pilfers from a widow's larder must not be admonished. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A tender bamboo cannot be eagerly desired for building. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A woman without teeth shall be left to the lions. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
He who has a fever is not shown to the fire. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
If you are ugly, learn how to dance. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A belching toad portends rain. (Zambian Proverb)
The shark who has eaten cannot swim with the shark that is hungry. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
Things that are stolen will really never make you rich. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A man with a cross eye shall be put to the torch. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
To get rid of anger, first weed out the bitter roots. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
To give is to put. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
When you run alone, you run fast. When you run together, you run far. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
A wild dog is best eaten when clubbed to death. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
You have to look after wealth, but knowledge looks after you. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
Beat your wife regularly; if you don't know why, she will. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
Do not look at a visitor's face but at his stomach. (Zambian Proverb)
He who listened to the woman suffered famine at harvest time. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
I am because we are; we are because I am. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
If you have no teeth, do not break the clay cooking pot. View proverb
Zambian Proverb
The king lives way up where the stench of the poor cannot reach him. View proverb
Zambian Proverb