59 Quotes about Africa and by Africans: Age Old Wisdom

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African proverbs, wanderlust quotes, travel sayings – they inspire the traveller inside all of us. Likewise, roaming this big blue planet taps into our inner philosopher.

The accompanying photos may inspire the traveller, and the philosopher, in you too. The traveller in you can find more inspiration to explore the spectacular continent of Africa in these photos of beautiful Botswana!

“If I’ve ever seen magic, it has been in Africa”

– John Hemingway

African Quotes and Proverbs

~ “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.” – African Proverb

~ “When you educate a man you educate an individual. When you educate a woman you educate a generation.” – African Proverb

~ “The strength of the crocodile is in the water – people can be very strong in their right environment.” – African Proverb

~ “When the music changes, so does the dance.” – African Proverb

~ “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” – Africa Proverb

~ “He who fears the sun, will not become chief.” – African Proverb

~ “If two wise men always agree, there is no need for one of them.”
– African Proverb

~ “The sun does not forget a village just because it is small.” – African Proverb

 ~ “To get lost is to learn the way.” – Africa Proverb

Wanderlust Quotes

~ “Nothing but breathing the air in Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations.” – William Burchell

~ “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” G.K. Chesterton

~ “Roam abroad in the world and take thy fill of its enjoyments, before the day shall come when thou must quit it for good.” –Saadi

~ “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve travelled.” – Prophet Mohammed

~ “A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A Shedd

~ “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine

~ “There’s no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

~ “The world is big, and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.” – John Muir

~ “The only man I envy is the one who has not yet been to Africa – for he has so much to look forward to.” – Richard Mullin

~ “To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

~ “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” – Rachel Wolchin

~ “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

~ “For magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life – bird, insect, reptile, bird – Uganda is truly “the Pearl of Africa.” – Winston Churchill

~ “He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.”
– Chinese Proverb

~ “Much of the freedom of travel lies in the anonymity that comes from being far from all that’s familiar.” – D. Hendricks

~ “The value of your travel does not hinge on how many stamps you have in your passport when you get home – and the slow nuanced experience of a single country is always better than the hurried, superficial experience of 40 countries.” – Rolf Potts

~ “Africa – you can see a sunset and believe you have witnessed the Hand of God. You watch the slow lope of a lioness and forget to breathe. You marvel at the tripod of a giraffe bent to water.” – Jodi Picoult

~ In Africa, there are iridescent blues on the wings of birds that you do not see anywhere else in nature. In Africa, in the midday heat, you can see blisters in the atmosphere. When you are in Africa, you feel primordial, rocked in the cradle of the world.” – Jodi Picoult

~ “Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.” – Eudora Welty

~ “I just wish the world was twice as big, and half of it was still unexplored.” – David Attenborough

~ “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– Andre Gide

~ “The real home of man is not his house but the road. Life itself is a travel that has to be done by foot.” – Bruce Chitin

~ “Why is it you can never hope to describe the emotion Africa creates? You are lifted, out of whatever pit, unbound from whatever tie, released from whatever fear. You are lifted and you see it all from above.” – Francesca Marciano

Travel Sayings

~ “May the African sun always shine through your eyes, and may the sound of its drums always beat in your heart.” – Unknown

~ “Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you richer.” – Unknown

~ “The goal is to die with more memories than dreams.” – Unknown

~ “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

~ “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – Unknown
 
~ “Until the lions have their historians, the tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” – Unknown

Africa Proverbs About Success

~ “He who does not see opportunity today, will be unable to seize tomorrow’s opportunity.” – Somali Proverb

~ “Examine what is said, not him who speaks.” – African Proverb

~ “Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.” – Zulu proverb

~ “If there were no elephant in the jungle, the buffalo would be a great animal.” – Ghanian Proverb

~ “Don’t think there are no crocodiles, just because the water’s calm.” – African Proverb

~ “Water that has been begged for does not quench the thirst.” – Proverb of Uganda’s Soga People

~ “If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom.” – African Proverb

~ “When a lion roars, he does not catch game.” – Acholi Proverb

~ “Do not scare the birds you are going to shoot.” – Madagascar Proverb

~ “He who fears the sun will not become chief.” – Ugandan Proverb

~ “Knowledge like wisdom is like water in the sand.” – African Proverb

Summing It Up – Quotes About Africa and by Africans

I hope a few have these words have lit a spark in your traveller’s heart, or fanned the one burning.

Of all the places in the world that I’ve wandered, it’s Africa that I never tire of. I feel like I could spend centuries roaming this enormous continent and never learn everything there is to know about it. I don’t think we’re meant to.

I have the feeling that knowing everything might tarnish the magic, and it’s not a risk I’ll take.

Happy Travels!

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