Although love is hard to define, these 20 African proverbs on love give some insights on what the emotion and idea mean.
1. Bread without sauce and a home without a wife are meaningless. – Ethiopia
2. It is better to be loved than feared. – Sierra Leone
Love takes sacrifice
3. If you do not travel, you will marry your own sister. – Mozambique
4. If a woman doesn’t love you, she calls you “brother.” – Côte d’Ivoire
5. You know who you love but you can’t know who loves you. – Nigeria
But love is not perfect
6. A married couple is neither enemies nor friends. – Somalia
7. He who loves you, loves you with your dirt. – Uganda (Ganda)
8. A man that does not lie shall never marry. – Zimbabwe
9. A good wife is easy to find, but suitable in-laws are rare. – Malagasy
10. One who marries for love alone will have bad days but good nights. – Egypt
Sometimes, you will love the wrong person
11. If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. – Egypt
12. Don’t try to make someone hate the person he loves. For he will go on loving but he will hate you. – Senegal
13. If anyone makes you laugh, it is not always because they love you. – Kenya
14. To love someone who does not love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall. – Congo
But love endures
15. The house of a person we love is never far. – Kenya (Kikuyu)
16. If there is cause to hate someone, the cause to love has just begun. – Wolof
17. Talking with one another is loving one another. – Kenya
18. One who loves you, warns you. – Uganda (Baganda)
19. The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love. – Morocco
20. Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly but flooding the river. – Liberia
