"The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting…

A proverb about voting has been printed on many images. An axe comes into the forest; because its handle is wood, the trees were comforted. The mission of the axe, of course, was to destroy the trees.

“When the axe came into the forest, the trees said: the handle is one of us. TURKISH PROVERB” was printed in the book Revolution in the Third World (1977) by Gérard Chaliand. The source of the “Turkish proverb” is unknown.

“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of the them” was posted on X/Twitter by Cut on February 24, 2018.

Google Books
Revolution in the Third World
By Gérard Chaliand
New York, NY: Viking Press
1977
Pg. i:
When the axe came into the forest, the trees said: the handle is one of us.
TURKISH PROVERB

Google Books
Domination and Power in Guyana:
A Study of the Police in a Third World Context
By George K. Danns
New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books
1982
Pg. 1:
WHEN THE AXE CAME INTO THE FOREST,
THE TREES SAID:
THE HANDLE IS ONE OF US.
Turkish Proverb

X/Twitter
kkartikeya
@kkartikeya
When the axe entered the forest, the trees said, “The handle is one of us!”
7:26 PM · Jul 9, 2008

X/Twitter
Jack
@pedzel
When the ax entered the forest, the trees said, “The handle is one of us!”—Turkish proverb
9:10 PM · Nov 9, 2008

X/Twitter
Quotes float my boat
@quotesnack
When the axe came to the forest the trees said the handle is one of us -Proverb (May be Turkish or African)
4:50 AM · May 26, 2009

X/Twitter
⚔️ Good Money ⚔️
@youngsolarflare
RT @BilalSankofa: Afrikan (Yoruba) Proverb: “When the ax entered the forest, the trees said, “Look, the handle is one of us!”

<-#REFLECT
11:51 AM · Jan 12, 2010

X/Twitter
Nairobian Oligarch
@MtuSavvy
Voting along tribal line is like the trees that saw an axe enter the forest n they celebrated n said “look, the handle is one of us”
2:59 AM · Dec 15, 2012

X/Twitter
Philip Murutu
@Murutuphilip
LOLEST! Voting along tribal line is like trees that saw an axe enter the forest n celebrated saying, “look, the handle is one of us”.
3:10 AM · Dec 15, 2012

X/Twitter
Dennis kehodo
@Kehodo
Voting along tribal basis is being like a tree that sees an axe and says, ‘the handle is one of us’...vote consciously
4:13 AM · Jan 13, 2013

X/Twitter
Maisha Robert
@josmaroachiel
@focuskenya The axe entered the forest the trees said “look the handle is one of us” but still they were cut down no tribal vote #CANCOPE
8:40 AM · Jan 16, 2017

X/Twitter
Nick Omondi
@nickomondi_254
When the axe entered the forest, the tree said ‘‘Look, the handle is one of us. Vote wisely. #inuajamii #konnect #NairobiOnTheMove
11:25 AM · Jun 6, 2017

X/Twitter
Barack J
@IamJBarack
FOREST: Why are our trees disapearing?
TREES: Coz we keep voting for the axe, saying the handle is from our tribe
3:18 PM · Oct 18, 2017

X/Twitter
ERIC GITUMA MBAABU
@embaabu
Until trees stop voting for the axe just because the handle is one of them,forest will keep on disappearing.
4:33 AM · Oct 19, 2017

X/Twitter
Carolyne Faith Atemba
@CarolFaithW
Forests cannot survive as long as trees keep voting for the axe because “the handle is from our tribe”.
5:34 PM · Oct 20, 2017 from Nairobi, Kenya

X/Twitter
Themba
@ThembaKaula
“The forest was at a loss as to why its tree population was shrinking. Then it dawned upon the forest that the trees kept voting for the axe believing it was an ally since the handle was one of their own.” - Anonymous
#ThoughtOfTheDay
1:54 AM · Nov 15, 2017

X/Twitter
Cut.
@mabarsayaaaaa
The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of the them.
10:46 AM · Feb 24, 2018

X/Twitter
Most Excellent
@sirtakudzwa
The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of the them.
11:35 AM · Feb 24, 2018

Facebook
LeRoy T. Jr Carr
March 17, 2018 at 5:51 PM ·
Hear ye this Turkish proverb, “The forest was sinking but the trees kept voting for the axe because it’s handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of the them!”

X/Twitter
Sylvester Odion
@slyodion
“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because it’s handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them!”
African proverb has never been more apt!
1:32 AM · Mar 23, 2018

X/Twitter
Leo DaVinci..🤙
@leoMoono
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept on voting for the axe because it’s handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them.
- African Proverb
4:45 AM · Mar 24, 2018 from Lusaka, Zambia

X/Twitter
GiGi Gator Girl
@zazzybritches
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe as its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them.
Turkish proverb
11:46 AM · Mar 29, 2018

X/Twitter
Darrell Kitchell
@DarrellKitchell
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe as its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them. - Turkish Proverb
5:37 PM · May 11, 2018

iFunny
im_14andthisisdeep_2019
30 oct 2019
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe as its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them.

Quora
Is there really a Turkish proverb about an axe that convinces the trees it is one of them or did someone just tag the “Turkish proverb” onto a tale so it would sound like wisdom?
Sahin Dagli
Lives in Turkey 2022
As a native speaker, as far as i know there is not. The closest Turkish proverb to your definition is that: “ağaca balta vurmuşlar, ‘sapı bendendir’ demiş”

It translates to “an axe was swung to the tree. “Its handle is made of my body” said the tree”

It is used for explaining that bad intentions and betrayal can come even from the closest / dearest.

X/Twitter
Student Rexford
@moses_rexford
“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.”
Turkish Proverb
This is Dr. Bawumia’s story. They want to impose the same ‘devil’ on us. Abaaaa!
4:05 PM · Feb 10, 2024

“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because its handle was made of wood…”