Ìwà òní, ẹjọ́ ọ̀la.

What it means

Present conduct is future litigation.

Used when

Owomoyela: "The foolish behavior of the present sows the seeds of difficulties for the future"

Notes on the translation

Four words, no verb. Ẹjọ́ is specifically a legal case or dispute brought before a court or an elder, not a vague problem, so the Yorùbá names the exact future institution in which today's conduct will be examined. Owomoyela's "problem" loses that.

In this 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.