Aṣọ ò b’Ọmọ́yẹ mọ́ – Yoruba Wisdom on Irreversibility and the Tragedy of Delayed Intervention

Last updated: January 6, 2026

Yoruba Wisdom

Aṣọ ò b’Ọmọ́yẹ mọ́; Ọmọ́yẹ ti rìn ìhòhò w’ọjà

Literal Translation

Clothing could not catch up with Ọmọ́yẹ; Ọmọ́yẹ has already run naked into the marketplace.

Interpretation

This proverb describes an irreversible loss of sanity, restraint, or social grounding.

In Yoruba belief, once a mad person enters the marketplace naked, their madness is no longer curable. The ọjà is not merely a market; it is the public, communal, irreversible space. What happens there cannot be withdrawn, hidden, or quietly corrected.

The imagery is stark:

• Aṣọ (clothing) represents restraint, protection, and intervention
• Its failure to “catch up” signals that correction came too late
• The naked entry into the marketplace marks a point of no return

This is not about shame alone. It is about collapse beyond remedy.

Application

The proverb is used when someone has crossed a line past which correction, advice, or concealment no longer works.

It applies to:

• A person whose behaviour has become publicly destructive
• A leader who ignores counsel until damage is irreversible
• Someone whose excesses outpace intervention

It is often spoken with resignation rather than anger — a recognition that timing matters. Wisdom delayed can become wisdom wasted.

In Yoruba ethics, prevention is powerful, but once exposure enters the public square, restoration is no longer assured.

Broad Theme

Irreversible Breakdown and the Cost of Delayed Intervention

Supporting Themes

Madness and social limits, timing and consequence, public irreversibility, failure of restraint, communal thresholds, public exposure, failure of intervention, restraint versus excess, communal limits, moral breakdown, prevention versus cure, the danger of unchecked excess.