Dikgomo ke banka ya Mosotho
Literally: “Cattle are the bank of a Mosotho”
Meaning: For the Basotho, cattle are the traditional store of wealth, paid as bride-price and held as savings; livestock is true riches.
Botswa ha bo jelwe
Literally: “Laziness is not eaten”
Meaning: Laziness yields no food or reward; one must work to eat and prosper.
Leboela ha le ngallwe
Literally: “That which is returned to should not be resented”
Meaning: Do not be discouraged from trying again where you once failed; a place or task you returned to may yet reward you.
Ho bua hase ho phetha
Literally: “To speak is not to accomplish”
Meaning: Talking about something is not the same as doing it; great talkers are seldom great doers.
Katse ha e le siyo, ditweba di a hlanaka
Literally: “When the cat is absent, the mice frolic”
Meaning: When the person in authority is away, those under them misbehave.
Ditabana di tswala ditaba
Literally: “Small matters give birth to big matters”
Meaning: Little things, left unchecked, grow into serious affairs; trivial beginnings produce great consequences.
Lefu ha le na nako
Literally: “Death has no time”
Meaning: Death is unpredictable and can strike at any moment; no one knows the hour of their end.
Mphemphe ea lapisa, motho o khonoa ke sa hae
Literally: “"Give me, give me" makes one go hungry; a person is satisfied by what is his own”
Meaning: Begging and relying on others leaves you wanting; only what you earn or own truly sustains you.
Sejo senyane ha se fete molomo
Literally: “A small portion of food does not pass by the mouth”
Meaning: Do not despise a small offering; even a little is worth accepting rather than refusing.
Letsoho le le leng ha le hlatsoe
Literally: “One hand does not wash (itself)”
Meaning: No one can manage everything alone; people need one another's help, as one hand washes the other.
Ngwana ya sa lleng o shwela tharing
Literally: “A child who does not cry dies on its mother's back (unnoticed)”
Meaning: If you do not speak up about your needs, they will be overlooked; voice your problems to get help.
Khomo ha e tsoale tau
Literally: “A cow does not give birth to a lion”
Meaning: Offspring resemble their parents; like produces like.
Bana ba motho ba ngwathana hlooho ya tsie
Literally: “The children of one person share the head of a locust”
Meaning: True kin share even the smallest thing among themselves; family stands together and divides what little they have.
Letsatsi ha le chabele motho a le mong
Literally: “The sun does not rise for one person alone”
Meaning: Good fortune and life's blessings are meant to be shared by all, not hoarded by one.
Mokoallo ha o jewe o sa butswa
Literally: “The unripe fruit is not eaten before it ripens”
Meaning: The sound idea — do not take/consume a thing before its proper time; patience lets matters ripen — but the wording 'mokoallo' is questionable and likely garbled.
Morena ke morena ka batho
Literally: “A chief is a chief through (by) the people”
Meaning: A leader's authority and standing come from those they lead; without the people there is no chief.
Moroto o mong ha o pholle seliba
Literally: “One person's urine does not fill a well”
Meaning: A single person's contribution alone cannot complete a large undertaking; many contributions are needed — though this exact urine-and-well phrasing is not the standard form.
Bohlale ha bo na mong
Literally: “Wisdom has no single owner”
Meaning: No one has a monopoly on wisdom; good ideas and cleverness can come from anyone.
Tshwene ha e ipone lekopo
Literally: “The baboon does not see its own forehead/ugliness”
Meaning: People are blind to their own faults while noticing those of others.