Èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà; ilé dára ó ku ìgbé.
Character against beauty, wealth and destiny
Original
Èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà; ilé dára ó ku ìgbé.
Word-for-word gloss
- Èèyàn-án dára a-person is-attractive ó ku ìwà there-remains character; ilé dára a-house is-fine ó ku ìgbé there-remains the-living-in-it.
Idiomatic English
"A person may be attractive, but character still matters; a home may be gorgeous, but what matters is its livability."
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
Appearance is incomplete without the quality that makes the thing usable.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela: "Looks are not everything" Commonly said about a marriage prospect.
Notes on di translation
The construction ó ku X, "X remains," means the thing is not yet settled, the way an account is not yet paid. It is a courteous way of saying that the attractive person has not yet been assessed on the point that counts.