- English translation
Once the family’s foremost figure has gone, no one remains to fill that place.
- Literal wording
After the great head, there is no one.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb voices the sense of emptiness that follows the death of the person on whom a household chiefly relied. It presents that loss as more than personal grief: the family has lost its central point of direction.
It also recognizes that prominence cannot simply be inherited by the next available relative. A surviving family member may be present yet unable to carry the responsibility, judgment, and unifying influence associated with the departed elder.
- When it is used
Used in speaking of a bereaved family whose leading elder has died and left no relative able to take over the role. It conveys both sorrow for the deceased and anxiety about how the household will continue without that person.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Once the family’s foremost figure has gone, no one remains to fill that place.