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Muthu ndi muthu nga vhaṅwe vhathu
Tshivenda proverb · Tshivenda
Literally: “A person is a person through other persons / A human being is human because of other human beings.”
Meaning: One's humanity is realised through relationship with others. A person becomes fully human only in community; we depend on and complete one another, and individual worth is bound up with how one treats and is treated by others.
Background
This is the canonical Tshivenda expression of the pan-Southern-African philosophy of ubuntu (in Tshivenda, vhuthu — humanness/personhood). It is the direct Venda cognate of the better-known Nguni saying 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' (Zulu/Xhosa) and Sotho-Tswana 'Motho ke motho ka batho'. It is documented in the UNISA Multilingual Proverbs Dictionary, which glosses it alongside the idea that 'a problem shared is a problem halved'. It expresses an indigenous communitarian ethic of caring, hospitality, mutual responsibility and interdependence rather than individualism.
How it is used
Used to remind someone that they owe their standing, success or character to the community that raised and supports them; to rebuke selfishness or arrogance; and in contexts of cooperation, reconciliation, hospitality and communal obligation. Frequently cited in moral teaching, sermons, speeches and education about ubuntu/vhuthu.