Sithi singalamba sidle lotshani.
“We say that when we are truly hungry, we will eat grass.”
Necessity forces people to accept what they would otherwise refuse; desperate times call for desperate measures.
— Traditional Zimbabwe Wisdom, Zimbabwe
Source: Traditional Ndebele proverb, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from Zimbabwe
When the beard catches fire, men help put out one another's.
In times of real trouble everyone needs help from others; no one manages a crisis entirely alone.
What has horns cannot be wrapped up in a bundle of grass.
The truth cannot stay concealed forever; sooner or later it reveals itself.
The little dish that is sent out returns from the very place it was sent.
Kindness shown to others tends to come back to the one who gave it first.
Pumpkins fall to those who have no pot to cook them in.
Good fortune sometimes lands on people who are not prepared to make the most of it.
A poor man never manages to kill an animal with a fine hide.
Poverty has a way of reinforcing itself, denying the poor even the rare stroke of luck.
One who has already died no longer fears decay.
Once a person has committed fully to a course of action, there is no turning back from its consequences.