Much of Africa's history has been passed on through the generations orally. One consequence of this is that traditional wisdom has been crystallized in the form of proverbs. Here is a collection of proverbs attributed to the Zulu of South Africa.
- You can learn wisdom at your grandfathers feet, or at the end of a stick.
- A walking man builds no kraal.
- You can not know the good within yourself if you can not see it in others.
- When you bite indiscriminately, you end up eating your own tail.
- The lion is a beautiful animal, when seen at a distance.
- The bones must be thrown in three different places before the message must be accepted.
- Guessing breeds suspicion.
- Even immortals are not immune to fate.
- You cannot fight an evil disease with sweet medicine.
- Old age doesn't announce itself at the gate of the kraal.
- Almost doesn't fill a bowl.
- Even the most beautiful flower withers in time.
- The sun never sets that there has not been fresh news.
