Amharic Proverbs

ሲሳሳ ይጠፋ ሲወደዱ ይቀራሉ።

When hated, one disappears; when loved, one stays.

አንድ ጣቶ ብቻ ዝምብ አይይዝ።

A single finger cannot catch a flea.

ዱር ወፍ ካልዘፈነ ጫካ ዝም ይላል።

If the forest bird does not sing, the forest is silent.

ልጅ ተወልዶ ሳያለቅስ ወተት አይሰጡት።

A baby is not given milk until it cries.

አፍ ሳቀ ሆድ ሳቀ ማለት አይደለም።

That the mouth laughs does not mean the stomach laughs.

ዝሆን ቢርሳ ቀስተ ደመናን ዝናቡ ያስታውሳል።

Even if the elephant forgets, the rain will remind it of the rainbow.

ሰው ሳይሄድ መንገዱ ይጠፋል።

A path disappears if no one walks it.

ትምህርት ቤት ቢያቃጥሉ አስተማሪ አይቃጠልም።

You can burn the school, but you cannot burn the teacher.

ማርን ብትልስ ሹካ አትክደዉ።

When licking honey, do not abandon the stick.

ሌሊቱ ሲወድቅ ጨረቃ ትወጣለች።

When the night falls, the moon rises.

ቸኩሎ የሚሄድ ሰው ዥጉርጉር ያጣዋል።

A person in a hurry loses their loincloth.

ፍቅር ዓይን አይኖርም።

Love has no eyes.

ውሃ ያጠጣህ ምንጩን አትርሳ።

Do not forget the spring that gave you water.

ነፍስ ካለ ተስፋ አለ።

Where there is life, there is hope.

እንቁላል ሳይፈለፈል ዶሮ አይቆጥሩ።

Do not count chickens before the egg hatches.

ቀስ ብሎ የሚሄድ ሩቅ ይደርሳል።

He who goes slowly reaches far.

ዕውቀት ሲጨምር ኩራት ይቀንሳል።

As knowledge increases, pride decreases.

ፀሐይ ካልወጣ ጤዛ አይጠፋም።

Without the sun, the dew does not disappear.

ሁለት ቤት ያለው ሁለቱም ይቃጠሉበታል።

He who has two houses is burned in both.

ሕፃን ልጅ ሲወለድ ዓለምን ይዞ ይወለዳል።

When a child is born, it is born holding the world.

ቃሉ ቢሮጥ ሰውነቱ ይቀራል።

The word may run ahead, but the person stays behind.

እሳት ሲቃጠለው ጭስ ያወጣል።

When fire burns, it produces smoke.

ዕድሜ ሲረዝም ጠፍቶ የነበረ ወዳጅ ይገኛል።

As life grows long, lost friends are found.

ጠጅ ጠጪ ሃሳቡን ይናገራል።

The mead drinker speaks his mind.

ሰው ቢበዛ አህያ አይቀናም።

When people are many, the donkey does not envy.

ደሃ ቢሞት ሀብታም ቢቀር ኀዘን ሁሉ ልቅሶ ነው።

Whether the poor die or the rich remain, grief is still grief.

አፍ ቢያሳምሙህ ሆድ ያስብሃል።

Though the mouth hurts you, the stomach will comfort you.

ድሃ ቢናደድ ሀብታሙ ቤቱ ሰቃዬ ነው።

When the poor man is angry, the rich man's house is the one in trouble.

አጠቃሎ ሳያውቅ ማጠቃለሉ ቢያቃጥልም ወዲያ ይሄዳል።

Even if he burns while not knowing how to fight, he goes on.

ዓምድ ካልቆሙ ቤቱ ይወድቃል።

Without pillars, the house will fall.