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Zulu Proverbs

The Zulu are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in South Africa.

Abundance does not spread, famine does.

If you are looking for a fly in your food, it means you are full.

The calf takes after the mother.

A crafty person is consumed by other crafty people.

Some seeds will grow, others will die.

A person is praised when dead.

The poor man's word is considered last.

Look as you fell a tree.

The ailment of the heart is known to one only.

The cow is milked by one who knows it.

He who installs a king never rules with him.

A kind is a king because of people.

No bird flies and never rests.

A grave is not dug before a person dies.

No buffalo was ever beaten by its calf.

A pot does not boil when not looked after.

Almost is not eaten.

The wild beast is not touched.

Respect is mutual.

Eyes do not see all.

Even where there is no cock day dawns.

There is no leopard without a black spot.

The young plant grows from the parent stem.

The cow finds it difficult to deliver its calf.

A leopard licks its spots, black and white.

The foot has no eyes; it is blind.

Love does not choose the blade of grass on which it falls.

Jealousy starts from the eye.

A cow with a mouth has no milk.

Death has no modesty.

It is not known what milk pail
will come back with a handle.

A child places reliance on its mother.

The house of the talkative person lets in rain.

A grudge is not held against a dead person.

When the big bird dies the eggs rot.

He who starts well ends badly.

The mouth is the shield to protect oneself.

A person is praised when dead.

Sleeping is turning.

One does not follow a snake into its hole.

The cow withholds its milk when prodded,
but it yields much when coaxed.

Abundance does not spread, famine does.

The cunning person dies in cunning.

There is no frog that does not peep out of its pool.

Old age does not announce itself.

A fine fig is full of worms.

A crime is always denied.

No dew ever competed with the sun.

The poor man's word is considered last.

You cannot chase two gazelles.

Do not speak of a rhinoceros if there is no tree nearby.

The family feud is not to be interfered with.

There is no wedding which ever lacked spectators.

A man is not stabbed with one spear.

A leopard does not sleep with a goat.

He who wants wisdom lives near a cunning person.

Crafty people do not share the same bedroom.

The cunning person dies in cunning.

The body is felt by its owner.

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