ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇട്ടകൈക്കുകടിക്കുന്ന നായുടെസ്വഭാവം”
— English Translation:
The trait of a dog that bites the very hand that fed it. (Treacherous and vile ingratitude.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആളുപാതി ആടപാതി”
— English Translation:
Half the person, half the attire. (Clothes make the man; fine dress complements and elevates natural dignity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇട്ടിയമ്മ ഏറെമറിഞ്ഞാൽ കൊട്ടിയമ്പലത്തോളം”
— English Translation:
Even if Ittiyamma flips and tumbles her furthest, she reaches only as far as the temple gate. (A person of limited vision and means can never venture far beyond their narrow, familiar boundary.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആളെനോക്കി പെണ്ണും മരംനോക്കികൊടിയും”
— English Translation:
Choose a bride suited to the man, just as you train a vine around an appropriate tree. (Partnerships and alliances thrive only when natural compatibility is respected.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇട്ടുനിരക്കുന്ന അച്ചിക്കു നിരങ്ങിഉണ്ണുന്ന നായർ”
— English Translation:
For a mistress who scatters food carelessly across the floor, a husband who crawls along the ground to eat it. (A match made in heaven; two incompetent or ill-mannered people perfectly suited to each other.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആളെരെചെല്ലൂൽ(പോകിലും) താനെറെ ചെല്ലുക.(പോകണം)”
— English Translation:
Even if numerous messengers go, it is best to go yourself. (Direct personal presence achieves what proxies and go-betweens never can.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇണങ്ങാതെ പിണങ്ങിക്കൂടാ”
— English Translation:
You cannot quarrel without having first been close. (Rift and bitterness occur only between those who once shared affection and intimacy.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആളുവില കല്ലുവില”
— English Translation:
Human worth weighed as cheaply as roadside gravel. (Cruel, callous disregard for human life and dignity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇണങ്ങിയാൽ നക്കിക്കൊല്ലും, പിണങ്ങിയാൽ കുത്തിക്കൊല്ലും”
— English Translation:
When pleased, they smother you to death with licks; when angered, they gore you to death. (Erratic, volatile personalities whose excessive affection is as stifling and dangerous as their outright malice.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആളേറെ പോകുന്നതിനേകാൾ താനേറെപോകുന്നത് നന്നു”
— English Translation:
Better to visit repeatedly yourself than to dispatch a host of intermediaries. (Hands-on attention to matters brings superior results compared to delegating.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇണയില്ലാത്തവന്റെ തുണകെട്ടല്ല (പിടിക്കരുതു)”
— English Translation:
Never take companionship with a solitary renegade who has no peer or partner. (Avoid keeping company with rootless, unaccountable individuals who recognize no loyalties.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആഴമുള്ളകുഴിക്കു നീളമുള്ള വടി”
— English Translation:
For a deep pit, you need a long stick. (Formidable, complex problems require tools and solutions of matching capacity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇണയില്ലാത്തവനോടു ഇണകൂടിയാൽ ഇണഒമ്പതുംപോകും പത്താമതു താനുംപോകും; അമ്മേടപ്പനെ തെങ്ങേൽകേറ്റി, അപ്പംവെന്തുംവന്നു അമ്മേടപ്പൻ ചത്തുംവന്നു”
— English Translation:
Ally with an incompatible partner, and nine friends will leave while you yourself perish as the tenth; send grandfather up the palm, the sweet cake got fried, but grandfather plunged to his death. (Disastrous alliances bring total ruin, and pursuing small, reckless gains often costs everything of genuine worth.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇക്കരനിന്നു നോക്കുമ്പോൾ അക്കരപച്ച, അക്കരെ നിന്നു നോക്കുമ്പോൾ ഇക്കരപച്ച”
— English Translation:
From this bank the other bank looks green; standing on that bank this side looks green. (The grass is always greener on the other side.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇത്തിക്കണ്ണികത്തിച്ചാൽ കുത്തിക്കടിക്കും”
— English Translation:
Set fire to a strangler parasite, and it crackles and spits sparks at you. (Confronting entrenched parasites or malicious busybodies makes them turn their venom violently on you.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇഞ്ചത്തലയും ഈഴത്തലയും എത്രയും ചതച്ചാൽ അത്രയും നന്ന്”
— English Translation:
The more tough fibers and coir are pounded, the finer they become. (A harsh traditional adage reflecting the idea that tough materials yield their utility only through rigorous processing.)