ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
തൻ ബലം കണ്ടെ അമ്പലം കെട്ടാവു”
— English Translation:
Gauge your own strength before setting out to construct a temple. (Assess your resources, stamina, and capital before committing to monumental, costly enterprises.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തടുപ്പാൻ ശക്തിയുള്ള കാലത്തു അറിവില്ല”
— English Translation:
In the years when one has the physical strength to resist, one lacks the wisdom to know how. (Youth is wasted on the young; vigor comes in youth when discernment is missing, and wisdom arrives only when physical strength has faded.)

“”
— English Translation:
Whoever picks up the club is declared the hunter. (Might makes right; whoever brazenly wields force or claims credit passes for the rightful master.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തട്ടാൻ തൊട്ടാൽ പത്തിന്നെട്ടു (എട്ടാൽ ഒന്നു)”
— English Translation:
If the goldsmith touches it, only eight parts in ten remain (or one part in eight is skimmed). (A traditional folk caution against the inevitable cut or commission shaved off whenever dealing with dishonest intermediaries.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തത്രപ്പെട്ടാൽ താടിയും മീശയും വരുമൊ”
— English Translation:
Will a beard and mustache sprout simply because you are in a frantic hurry? (Natural maturation and organic growth cannot be accelerated by frantic impatience; everything requires its due season.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തട്ടാനെ പിരടി പിടിച്ചുന്തിയപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like grabbing an evasive goldsmith by the scruff of the neck and shoving him forward. (Using forceful, direct coercion to compel a procrastinating, slippery party to deliver on their promise.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തനിക്കല്ലാത്തതു തുടങ്ങരുതു”
— English Translation:
Never embark on what is not suited to your station or nature. (Do not meddle in crafts, roles, or enterprises that lie entirely beyond your aptitude and calling.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തനിക്കിറങ്ങിയാൽ തനിക്കറിയാം”
— English Translation:
When the affliction descends upon oneself, one understands its true weight. (Only when misfortune, grief, or pain strikes you personally do you comprehend what others endure.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തഞ്ചത്തിനു വളംവേണ്ടാ; വളത്തിനു തഞ്ചംവേണ്ടാ”
— English Translation:
Skill needs no extra manure, and rich manure needs no cunning trick. (True mastery and rich innate substance do their own work; when genuine quality is present, artificial gimmicks are unnecessary.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തട്ടാൻ പെങ്ങടെതും തട്ടും”
— English Translation:
A dishonest goldsmith will shave gold even from his own sister's ornament. (An ingrained, compulsive vice or professional greed spares neither family ties nor moral conscience.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തടിച്ചാൽ പെടുക്കും, ചടച്ചാൽ കുരക്കും”
— English Translation:
If it fattens up it collapses in sickness; if it grows lean it barks in misery. (A chronically defective constitution or unmanageable enterprise where neither prosperity nor hardship brings relief.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ജളനെ വളരെ ആശ്രയിക്ക, ജന്മിയെ കൈവിടാതെയും ഇരിക്ക”
— English Translation:
Rely cautiously upon the simpleton, while taking care never to sever ties with the landed lord. (Prudent worldly management: handle unpredictable folk with care while keeping your lifeline to substantial authority intact.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ജാത്യാലുള്ളതു തൂത്താൽ പോകുമൊ”
— English Translation:
Can that which is inborn in one's very nature ever be swept away with a broom? (Inborn character traits, instincts, and constitutional flaws cannot be eradicated by cosmetic polishing.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ജീരകത്താലിക്കു കുഴവെക്കുകയാണൊ”
— English Translation:
Are you fixing a heavy tubular socket onto a dainty cumin-seed wedding pendant? (Crafting a clumsy, disproportionate attachment for an exquisitely delicate object; gross structural mismatch.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ജ്ഞാനി എല്ലായിടത്തും ജ്ഞാനി; രാജാവു രാജ്യത്തിൽ മാത്രം രാജാവു”
— English Translation:
A sage is revered everywhere; a king is a monarch only within his own borders. (True wisdom commands universal respect across the world, whereas worldly dominion is strictly confined to its territory.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഞെക്കിപഴുപ്പിച്ച പഴംപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a fruit ripened artificially by forceful squeezing. (Lacking natural sweetness, wholesome fragrance, and maturity; a forced, unnatural result that turns rotten rather than ripe.)