1. If you pour more water into a river, it will not drown the fish.
2. Two hands cut down a few trees, but one matchstick clears a forest.
3. The worm’s bad luck is the bird’s good fortune.
4. A wolf raised in a jungle is fiercer than a lion reared in a circus.
5. If you shake a tree, fruit must fall, no matter how reluctant it is.
6. Honey doesn’t lose its sweetness because it is made by bees that sting.
7. If you try to test a river’s depths with both feet, you will drown.
8. The early bird gets the worm, and the early fox gets the bird.
9. It is easier for a wolf to dwell among sheep if it dresses itself in wool.
10. Watering a dead flower will not bring it back to life.
11. If the grass is greener on the other side, try planting better seeds.
12. One who traps mice should not boast to one who hunts lions.
13. It is in vain to chase two birds at the same time, even if you have a thousand legs.
14. A thorn is a rose’s friend but a gardener’s enemy.
15. A gardener tending to his flowers is as noble as a warrior battling his opponents.
Plucking a rose only proves you desire it,
but nurturing it proves you love it.
~Matshona Dhliwayo
