Icalo lifupa bakolokota kofye washa.
“The world is a bone: you gnaw around it a little, then you leave it behind.”
Life on this earth is brief, so it should be lived usefully and without excessive attachment to worldly things.
— Traditional Zambia Wisdom, Zambia
Source: Traditional Zambia proverb, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from Zambia
Mother, carry me, and I too will carry you.
The young have a duty to care for their elders just as they were once cared for in infancy.
He who falls does not rise on his own.
A person in difficulty needs the help of others; community support is essential in hardship.
One arm follows the other arm.
Kindness shown to others tends to be returned in kind, in due course.
Where there is a finger, there is a cultivated field.
Success and abundance are the result of dedicated effort, not chance.
Those who eat water monitor lizards are found sitting close together.
People who share the same tastes and interests naturally gather and stay close to one another.
A dog belonging to a harsh master does not grow wise.
Excessive harshness in discipline is counterproductive and fails to build real understanding.