06/09/2026
YORUBA PROVERB OF THE DAY
“Ọlọ́kùnrùn tí yóò jẹ ẹyin ejò, abarapá ló fẹ́ fi kóbá.”
Translation:
“The sick person whose appetite can only be satisfied by eating snake eggs will endanger the healthy.”
Meaning:
A person's unusual desire or need should not become a danger to those around them. When someone is driven by an unhealthy or extreme desire, satisfying that desire may put others at risk.
Cultural Note:
Yoruba proverbs often use vivid images from everyday life to convey serious lessons. A sick person craving snake eggs presents a dangerous situation because reaching for the eggs may expose the healthy person to the snake.
The proverb therefore warns against allowing one person's unhealthy desire, ambition, or obsession to endanger others.
Yoruba wisdom teaches that another person's craving should never become another person's calamity.
