Book of African Stories
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Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.

Literally: “A person is a person through other people.

Nguni (Zulu/Xhosa), Southern Africa

What it means

This is the philosophical root of Ubuntu, often translated as 'I am because we are.' It holds that a person's humanity is bound up in their relationships with others — you become fully yourself through community, not apart from it. Ubuntu became especially well known internationally through South Africa's post-apartheid reconciliation process.

This proverb is rooted in South Africa, part of Southern Africa.

See heroes from South Africa