Ọkùnrin jẹ́jẹ́ a-bìwà-kunkun.

What it means

A mild manner is not evidence of a mild character.

Used when

Owomoyela: "The quiet type is often a tough customer" A warning against underestimating someone.

Notes on the translation

The epithet a-bìwà-kunkun, one-who-has-hard-character, is again an oríkì-style formation, and here it functions as a title rather than a description. Kunkun is hard in the sense of unyielding, used of dried clay and stubborn people alike.

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.