If You Know, You Know
On the corners of our streets, under the flicker of a streetlight, wisdom walks quietly.
You don’t always hear it, but if you know, you know.
Grandparents taught in short, sharp lines. Proverbs. Codes. Lessons wrapped in metaphor. Passed down without explanation, but felt in every word, every pause, every glance. And even today, these proverbs still slap.
1. “Knowledge is a garden. If it isn’t cultivated, you can’t harvest it.”
Grandma’s hands were always busy, peeling yam, sewing wrappers, tending the little garden behind the house.
“You see this soil?” she’d ask. “Plant, water, weed. If you leave it, you’ll get nothing.”
Today, the garden is your mind. Your skills. Your hustle. The online courses you enroll in. The skills you practice quietly while others scroll. Knowledge grows only when you feed it, no shortcuts, no hacks.
Growth requires attention. You can’t harvest what you don’t nurture.
2. “A roaring lion kills no game.”
Grandpa never raised his voice even when he could. He observed, waited, moved quietly.
Boasting solves nothing. Bragging gets nothing done.
What’s the Gen Z remix of this?
The loudest posts, the flexes, the clout-chasing, it’s mostly just a show. The real power lies in silent moves, like a lion stalking its prey.
Quiet patience and strategy always beat noise and hype.
3. “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.”
Two village chiefs argued over land. Families suffered. Crops were trampled. Children cried.
Conflict between the powerful always leaves casualties in its wake.
If we are having a modern take on this proverb, it tells that all the office politics, online feuds, or celebrity drama, mostly tells on the innocent. Protect yourself. Observe. Choose your battles carefully.
Align wisely. Don’t let the fallout of others’ fights destroy your peace.
4. “No matter how hot your anger gets, it cannot cook a yam.”
Anger flares. Shouts echo. Yet the yam stays raw, the fire unchanged.
Grandma laughed while telling this one: “You think yelling changes the world? Try patience.”
What does this particular proverb tell us today? The social media rants, heated texts, impulsive reactions, none of it accomplishes the work.
Patience, focus, consistent effort is actually how you get things done.
Rage alone produces nothing. Temper control and steady action yield results.
5. “One day breeze go blow, fowl yansh go open.”
Secrets hide, lies linger, cheats think they are unseen.
But the wind always comes. The truth always surfaces.
Today, receipts pop up online, lies are exposed, karma comes knocking. The proverb reminds us: you cannot escape consequences forever.
Your actions always catch up with you. Integrity is timeless.
Mirror Moment
These proverbs didn’t need algorithms or viral trends to travel.
They carried weight in voice, in observation, in memory.
They were street wisdom, woven into daily life, guiding every step.
So before you post, before you rant, before you rush:
Pause. Observe.
Ask yourself; what would the streets say?
What would the elders whisper?
Wisdom never goes out of style.
The streets still whisper it.
If you know, you know.