ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുന്നുണ്ടാൽ കുന്നും തുലയും”
— English Translation:
Merely sitting and consuming without earning will level even a mountain of wealth. (Idle spending without replenishment exhausts the largest fortunes.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലത്ത് പെൺപെറ്റപോലെ ഇരിക്കുന്നതെന്തു?”
— English Translation:
Why sit there looking as despondent as an orthodox patriarch who just had a daughter born? (Wearing an expression of utter gloom and despair over an unavoidable turn of events.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുന്നുനോക്കിയാൽ നിരന്നമൂട്”
— English Translation:
Viewed from a seated distance, every stump appears level. (Superficial, detached observation overlooks deep inequalities and hidden disparities.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലത്തെ പുഷ്ടി ഉണ്ണിയുടെ ഊരകൊണ്ടറിയാം”
— English Translation:
The prosperity of the household is visible in the plumpness of the child's waist. (The health and well-being of the youngest dependents are the truest gauge of a home's real prosperity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുന്നിടത്തുനിന്നെഴുന്നേറ്റില്ല എങ്കിൽ രണ്ടും അറികയില്ല”
— English Translation:
If you never rise from where you sit, you will learn neither side of life. (Staying sheltered and motionless keeps a person forever ignorant of the world.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലത്തെ പൂച്ചപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a cat in an affluent homestead. (Living a pampered, carefree life with free run of the place without lifting a paw.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുമുറിപ്പത്തായത്തിൽ ഒരുമുറിവിത്തെന്റെത്”
— English Translation:
In a two-compartment grain bin, the seed grain in one chamber is mine. (Asserting one's distinct, indisputable share and ownership in a joint household.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലാത്തവർക്ക് ആമാടയും പൊന്ന്”
— English Translation:
To those who have nothing, even a copper token is as precious as gold. (To the truly destitute, the smallest handout is a treasure.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുവാച്ചിയുടെ സൗരഭ്യം പീനാറിക്ക് വരുമൊ”
— English Translation:
Can the foul-smelling stinkwood ever exude the sweet fragrance of the double jasmine? (Base, corrupt nature cannot produce genuine nobility and virtue, no matter the pretense.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലായ്മ വന്നാലും വല്ലായ്മ അരുത്”
— English Translation:
Even if abject poverty strikes, let there be no dishonor or cruelty. (Material poverty may be inevitable, but moral degradation and loss of dignity must never be tolerated.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇറച്ചിക്ക്പോയോൻ വിറച്ചിട്ട്‌ചത്ത്‌; കാത്തിരുന്നോൻ നുണച്ചിട്ടും ചത്തു”
— English Translation:
The one who went out hunting meat froze to death; the one who waited at home salivating starved to death. (Reckless adventure and passive inaction can prove equally fatal if balance and prudence are absent.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇല്ലം നിറച്ചാൽ വല്ലം നിറയ്ക്കണം”
— English Translation:
After ceremonially filling the house with harvest sheaves, you must work to fill the grain basket. (Sacred rituals and good omens are meaningless unless backed by practical, diligent labor.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇറച്ചിയിരിക്കെ തൂവൽ പിടിക്കരുത്”
— English Translation:
When solid meat is right before you, do not reach for loose feathers. (Never neglect substantial value and core essentials to chase superficial trifles.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇഷ്ടമില്ലാത്ത അച്ചി(പ്പെണ്ണ്) തൊട്ടതെല്ലാം കുറ്റം”
— English Translation:
In a woman who is disliked, every single thing she touches is condemned as a fault. (Faults are thick where love is thin; bias turns even innocent actions into offenses.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇറച്ചിതിന്മാറുണ്ട്; എല്ലു കോർത്തു കഴുത്തിൽ കെട്ടാറില്ല”
— English Translation:
We may eat meat, but we do not string the bones around our neck as a garland. (One may harbor human frailties or private vices, but that is no reason to brazenly flaunt them in public.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇഷ്ടംമുറിപ്പാൻ അർത്ഥം മഴു”
— English Translation:
Money is an axe that chops down affection. (Financial squabbles and greed swiftly sever the closest friendships and family bonds.)