ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
കയ്യിൽ കാശുണ്ടെങ്കിൽ അറിയാത്ത ഉമ്മായും അപ്പം തരും”
— English Translation:
If you have money in hand, even a stranger woman will offer you warm rice cakes. (Money commands instant hospitality, warmth, and respect from complete strangers.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കപ്പൽ വച്ചു കടലൊക്കെ ഓടിയാലും കല്പിച്ചതേ അടങ്ങത്തുള്ളു”
— English Translation:
Even if you sail every ocean in a great ship, only what was destined will be your lot. (No amount of wandering or grand enterprise can alter one's appointed fortune.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കയ്യിൽ കിടന്ന പണം കൊടുത്തിട്ടു കടിക്കുന്ന പട്ടിയെ വാങ്ങിയാലൊ”
— English Translation:
Why part with hard cash in hand just to buy a dog that bites you? (Spending one's own resources to purchase self-inflicted misery and trouble.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കപ്പലിൽ കള്ളനുണ്ടൊ”
— English Translation:
Can there be a thief aboard an open ship? (A thief has nowhere to hide or escape when everyone shares the same vessel; or questioning baseless suspicion among comrades in the same boat.)

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— English Translation:
He who possesses the strength of arm becomes the master. (Might is right; physical power and assertiveness dictate authority.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കപ്പാളത്തീയനു മുപ്പാളത്തണ്ണീർ”
— English Translation:
For a destitute palm-tapper, three spathes of water. (The humble laborer receives only the meager share suited to his station.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കയ്യിൽ കൊടുത്താൽ കക്കാത്ത കള്ളനുണ്ടൊ (കള്ളനും കക്കാ)”
— English Translation:
If handed directly to him, is there any thief who won't steal? (Dangle an easy temptation, and anyone will take advantage; alternatively: if entrusted directly with open faith, even a rogue refrains from theft.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കപ്പലിനു പണിതുപണിതൊരു ചിമിഴായി”
— English Translation:
Toiled and labored to build a great ship, but it ended up as a tiny trinket box. (High ambitions and monumental effort dwindling into a petty, trivial result; the mountain brought forth a mouse.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കരകയും വേണം, കിറികോടുകയും അരുത് എന്നുവെച്ചാലൊ”
— English Translation:
Wanting to weep bitterly, yet insisting that one's lip must not twist? (Expecting to undergo deep pain or difficult ordeals without displaying the natural strain and suffering.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കമന്നുവീണാൽ കാല്പണം കയ്യിൽ”
— English Translation:
Even if he falls flat on his face, he rises with a quarter-penny in his palm. (An extraordinarily lucky or slick opportunist who turns even an accident into personal profit.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കരണത്തിനു ചേർന്നതു കൈമറി”
— English Translation:
A backhand slap suits an insolent posture (or an agile somersault matches a daring leap). (Meeting an action with its exact, fitting retribution or matching technique; tit for tat.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കമ്മാളൻ കണ്ടതു കണ്ണല്ലെങ്കിൽ ചുമ്മാടും കെട്ടി ചുമക്കും”
— English Translation:
If the artisan fails to see with clear eyes, he winds a headpad and ends up carrying the burden himself. (Failing to assess reality with sharp judgment forces one to shoulder unnecessary hardships.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടമീനെല്ലം കറിക്കാകാ”
— English Translation:
Not every fish that swims into view is fit for a curry. (Not every passing opportunity or acquaintance is suited for your venture; exercise careful selection.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണുപോയാൽ അറിയാം കണ്ണിന്റെ കാഴ്ച”
— English Translation:
Only when eyesight is lost is the true blessing of vision appreciated. (You never miss the water until the well runs dry; blessings are valued only after they are gone.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടറിയാഞ്ഞാൽ കൊണ്ടറിയും”
— English Translation:
What you fail to learn by observing others, you will learn the hard way by suffering the blow yourself. (Those who refuse wise counsel must learn through painful personal experience.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണെത്താക്കുളം, ചെന്നെത്താവയൽ, നഞ്ഞും നായാട്ടും മറുമരുന്നില്ലാത്ത ആന്തയും”
— English Translation:
A pond whose opposite shore the eye cannot fathom, a paddy field too vast to cross on foot, lethal poison, hazardous hunting, and an incurable blight. (A vivid catalog of uncontrollable perils and colossal burdens that exceed human remedy.)