Bonswa Mandaly! Koman'w ye? I was wondering if you knew any common sayings or proverbs in h.creole and the explanations behind them? Like for example.."jan chat mache se pa konsal kenbe rat,or "le bab kamarad ou pran dife, met paw la tranp"or "se sot ki bay, enbesil ki pran"....things like that. If you do know any more, please share them with me! Mesi davans!

You said:
Bonswa Mandaly! Koman'w ye? I was wondering if
you knew any common sayings or proverbs in h.creole and the explanations behind
them? Like for example.."jan chat mache se pa konsal kenbe rat,or "le bab
kamarad ou pran dife, met paw la tranp"or "se sot ki bay, enbesil ki
pran"....things like that. If you do know any more, please share them with me!
Mesi davans!
 
Mandaly says:


Bonswa zanmi,
 There are many many Haitian proverbs, I only know  a few of them. Most of the ones that I know I've learned from my mom and grandma:
The proverb "jan chat mache se pa konsa l kenbe rat", my mom would use to warn me about boys :)
 
I can only share with you the ones that we (mostly my mom) use most often at home. The followings are not word for word translation:
 
Byen pre pa lakay



about seeing a task to completion 100%. When you’re ‘almost
there’ that doesn't mean you’re “there’.



Zòrèy pa dwe janm pi long pase tèt about not overstepping your bounds




Je wè, bouch pe it’s not always wise to talk about everything you see.




 Brav pa pale men li aji basically, action speaks louder than words




Ti bouton mennen maleng how some very small things can take a life of their own




Mezi lajan w mezi wanga w basically,getting what you’re worth




Makak a ke pa janbe dife think carefully about your actions if you don’t want your family to pay for them



Si dimanch pral bèl depi nan vandredi ou konnen basically about intuition




Bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje  the person on the receiving end never forgets




Pawòl nan kè pa gate zanmi.  keeping some things to yourself might prevent you from saying things you could never take back




Other meaningful ones I remember from when I was younger:

Lè ti poul cho dèyè manman malfini pase l pran l this one is about not being too eager, about using more restraint

Sèl kouto ki konnen sa k nan kè yanm about things you can only know from experience

Fò w konn la pou w al a experience counts, it delivers

Tout bèt jennen mòde anyone who is provoked will fight back

and my favorite: Se mwen ki dòmi ak Jan, se mwen k pou di w si Jan wonfle. you cannot know my private life better than me.

There are a couple of good books about Haitian proverbs which you may be able to find online and also by googling Haitian proverbs, etc…. 

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words