Words are the breath of the heart.

- Kenyan proverb -

Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from Around the World

A first grade teacher collected old, well known proverbs. For a writing prompt, she gave each student in her class the first half of a number of proverbs with the assignment to complete them.

Students submitted the following:

As you shall make your bed so shall you……….mess it up.
Better be safe than………………….punch a 5th grader.
Strike while the …………………………bug is close.
It’s always darkest before…………daylight savings time.
You can lead a horse to water but…………………..how?
Don’t bite the hand that……………………looks dirty.
A miss is as good as a……………………………..Mr.
You can’t teach an old dog new…………………….math.
If you lie down with the dogs, you’ll..stink in the morning.
The pen is mightier than the………………………pigs.
An idle mind is…………………..the best way to relax.
Where there’s smoke, there’s………………….pollution.
Happy the bride who……………….gets all the presents.
A penny saved is……………………………..not much.
Two’s company, three’s…………………..the musketeers.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you,
cry and……………………..you have to blow your nose.
Children should be seen and not………spanked or grounded.
When the blind leadeth the blind………get out of the way.

Do not boast about yourself before performing an event, but after the event.

Usijisifu kuwa mutendaji wa jambo kabla, lakini jisifu baada ya kutenda. (Swahili)

- Gusii (Kenya) -

More about this proverb on Afriprov.org

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -

103 Great Poems: A Dual-Language Book

Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.

–Hippocrates–