Part 1: On humility, self-control, self-knowledge, self-respect, and self-restraint

T

“Who is there whose opinion matters?” is the attitude that makes the farmer come into town dressed only in a loin cloth.
(People who make a spectacle of themselves show no regard for others.)

Who knows O'kolo in Ọ̀yọ́?
(Said of people who are of no account but act as though they matter.) [90]

What would a dog be doing in a mosque?
(Said to tell off people who are not wanted in a company.)

At whose dinner table is the dog wagging its tail?
(Said to tell off people who make their presence felt when they should rather make themselves scarce.) [91]

Spinach is never disgraced.
(May one never know disgrace.) [92]

The turkey knows towards whom it farts.
(People must be careful how to choose the people they presume to approach with familiarity.)

90. Òkolo is not a Yorùbá but an Ijọ name.  [Back to text]

91. The Yorùbá do not consider dogs to be preferred company.  [Back to text]

92. The play is on the syllable tẹ̀, which occurs in tẹ̀tẹ̀ (spinach) and tẹ́ (to be disgraced).  [Back to text]