Ẹni tó lórí rere tí kò níwà, ìwà-a rẹ̀ ni yó ba orí-i rẹ̀ jẹ́.

Wetin e mean

Character can destroy a good destiny.

When dem dey use am

Owomoyela: "Evil character ruins good destiny"

Notes on di translation

Orí is the inner head, the destiny chosen before birth, and Owomoyela's "good fortune" smooths away a technical term. The proverb is the compressed form of a doctrinal position argued at length in Ifá: that destiny is not fate, because character intervenes between the destiny chosen and the life lived. Anyone using this proverb as evidence about Yorùbá thought should note that it is a claim inside a live dispute, not a neutral description.

Inside dis collection

• Ìwà lẹwà.Character is beauty.
• Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn; ehín funfun lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín.Good character is a person's best adornment; white teeth are the adornment of a smile.
• Ìwà lòrìṣà; bí a ti hù ú sí ní ńgbeni sí.Character is a god; just as one lives it, so it succors one.
• Ìwà lẹ̀sìn.Character is worship.
• Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.Character will not forsake its owner.
• Tìwà tìwà là ńràjò.It is in the company of one's character that one goes on a journey.