Ẹni tó tijú tì í fún ara-a rẹ̀.
Character formed and deformed
Original
Ẹni tó tijú tì í fún ara-a rẹ̀.
Literal gloss
- Ẹni tó tijú one-who feels-shame tì í fún ara-a rẹ̀ feels-it for himself.
Idiomatic English
"The person who is self-aware protects his or her own reputation thereby."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
The capacity for shame is a self-protective faculty.
Used when
Owomoyela: "Good character benefits the owner more than others"
Notes on the translation
Ojú tì, literally "the eye pushes," is the Yorùbá idiom for feeling shame, and Owomoyela's "self-aware" translates it as a virtue rather than an emotion, which is defensible but is an interpretation. A more literal rendering, "whoever is capable of shame is ashamed on his own behalf," keeps the ambiguity. Shame as a positive faculty is treated at length in `owe-shame-reputation`.