Ẹni tó lówó tí kò níwà, owó olówó ló ní.
Character against beauty, wealth and destiny
Original
Ẹni tó lówó tí kò níwà, owó olówó ló ní.
Literal gloss
- Ẹni tó lówó one-who has money tí kò níwà who has-not character, owó olówó the-money of-the-moneyed ló ní is-what he-has.
Idiomatic English
"The person who has riches but lacks good character has other people's riches."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Wealth without character is held in trust for whoever will take it.
Used when
Owomoyela: "A rich person without good character soon loses his or her riches to others"
Notes on the translation
Owó olówó, the money of the money-owner, is a deliberate near-tautology that turns on the fact that olówó names someone else. The proverb does not say the wealth will be lost; it says it already belongs to another person, which is a harder claim.