Let's learn some Haitian proverbs in English

1. Bondye bon.
Whatever God does is for the best. Whatever is, is good.
(Haiti’s eternally optimistic fatalism.)

2. Dèyè mòn, gen mòn.
After one sorrow, more sorrows. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. There’s more than meets the eye.

3. Sak vid pa kanpe.
No work gets done on an empty stomach. You get out what you put in.

4. Santi bon koute chè.
A big front doesn’t come cheaply.

5. Kreyon* Bondye pa gen gòm.*
God makes no mistakes.
What God promises He will give. What’s traced for you is forever traced.

6. Bèl fanm, bèl malè.
A beautiful woman means trouble.

7. Nèg di san fè, Bondye fè san di.
Man talks, God acts.

8. Pale franse pa di lespri pou sa.
Fancy talk doesn’t mean brains.

9. Bèl larivyè, nanpwen* rad*.
A beautiful situation, wasted.
All dressed up and no place to go.

10. Milat* pòv se nèg, nèg rich se milat.
Money is everything.

11. Prese bon, dousman bon.
There’s more than one right way.

12. Grangou dimanch pi rèd.
Hunger is worse when others are feasting.

13. Bon mache koute chè.
Bargains are expensive.

14. Tan ale, li pa tounen.
We can never recapture the past.

15. Fanm se kajou: plis li vye, plis li bon.
Women, like wine, improve with age.

16. Sa nèg fè nèg, Bondye ri.
God does not trouble Himself with what man does to man.

17. Tout moun se moun.
Everyone deserves to be treated as a human being.

18. Anpil bèl bagay anmè*.
Appearances can be deceiving.

19. Si ou bay pòv, se Bondye ou prete.
Charity has its rewards.

20. Nanpwen* kòb, nanpwen manje.
You get what you pay for.

21. Pitit tig, se tig.
“The tiger’s cub can be dangerous too.” (Jean-Claude Duvalier, 1975)

22. Ti nèg fè sa l kapab, grannèg* fè sa l vle.
Money and power are everything.

23. Tande pa di konprann pou sa.
Hearing is one thing, understanding is another.

24. Grannèg* se lalwa.
Might makes right.

25. Pitit se richès pòv malere.
A child is the poor man’s consolation