The lead cow gets whipped the most.

The lead cow gets whipped the most.

When they plough the fields, usually using four or six oxen, farmers choose a lead cow. This lead cow is in the front so she can make sure that the rest follow her and that everything is done just right. The farmers watch her the most and if anything goes wrong, she, and not so much the rest, always gets the whipping. So if there is a problem it is the people at the top who always get affected by it more.


This Zulu proverb reflects the idea that whoever does the most difficult job gets blamed for everything that goes wrong on the job. It does not matter if she or he is the actual culprit. So the teaching of this South African and Swaziland proverb is that the most pressure is on the leaders.


Even in our daily life we can see a lot of people who always blame the administration for the lack of civic amenities, for corruption and many other things, but such people themselves do not cooperate in maintaining our streets clean and being honest in their life. Though the leaders show the way to the people, the people should follow it willingly.


The pen is mightier than the sword.

This maxim elucidates the ever true fact that the power and significance of the pen are mightier than those of the word as the sword causes only a short lived or time being effects or implications, sometimes ill-effects, whereas the pen causes the effects or implications for a longer duration and permanently. The sword is indicative of the destructive power in the world and the power where people are coerced into doing what they do not like to do. The pen indicates renaissance and a tool to fight for justice by taking the issues to people.


The pen has brought many changes in the world. The rise of communism which originated with the writings of Karl Marx is a perfect example of the power of pen. Many great heroes of pen like Milton, Shakespeare, Dickens, Tagore and Nietzsche have influenced the world through their writings. The sword was considered as a mighty weapon in olden days because in olden world MIGHT IS RIGHT was the principle. But with development of civilization and the improvement in publishing technologies and communication, the time has enabled faster exchange of ideas. This led to changes in the world through the pen.