ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
തപ്പിക്കണ്ടു വീശാറുണ്ടോ”
— English Translation:
Does anyone cast a fishing net only after groping around by hand to confirm the fish? (Overthinking and excessive caution paralyze action; if you wait for absolute certainty, the fleeting opportunity escapes.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തപ്പു കാച്ചിയും തണങ്ങു പെറുക്കിയും കിടക്കെയുള്ളൂ”
— English Translation:
Just idling away life roasting wild tubers and picking up twigs. (Living an aimless, hand-to-mouth existence devoid of enterprise, ambition, or growth.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നേ ചെയ്താൽ നന്നായ് ചെയ്യും”
— English Translation:
If you do it yourself, it is done well. (If you want a thing done right, do it yourself; personal care and vigilance ensure quality.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നേയിട്ടാൽ കൊയ്യാൽഇല്ല”
— English Translation:
If sown and abandoned to itself, there will be no crop to reap. (Enterprises left without active care, vigilance, and labor will yield nothing but failure.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്മേലുണ്ടെങ്കിലെ തമ്മട്ടിൽവീഴൂ”
— English Translation:
Only if fruit hangs on the boughs will it drop onto the collecting cloth. (You can gather profits and results only where real substance exists; you cannot reap from an empty source.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്മേൽ കാച്ചതു മുരട്ടിൽ വീഴും”
— English Translation:
The fruit that ripens on the tree falls right at its own roots. (The apple never falls far from the tree; actions, character, and consequences stay close to their origin.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നോടു ചോദിച്ചേ താനൊന്നു ചൊല്ലാവു”
— English Translation:
Speak your piece only when you have been asked. (Unsolicited opinions invite contempt; reserve your counsel until it is requested.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തൻറെ കണ്ണിൽ കോലിരിക്കെ ആരാൻറെ കണ്ണിലെ കരടെടുക്കുന്നതെങ്ങിനെ?”
— English Translation:
How can you remove a tiny speck from another's eye while a wooden beam remains in your own? (Why obsess over the minor flaws of your neighbor while ignoring the glaring transgressions in your own life?)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തൻറെ ഒരുമുറം വെച്ചിട്ടു ആരാന്റെ അരമുറം പറയരുതു”
— English Translation:
Do not hide your own full winnowing basket while gossiping about another's half basket. (People in glass houses should not throw stones; do not broadcast the minor shortcomings of others while concealing your own massive faults.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തൻറെ മീടംകാഞ്ഞിട്ടു ആരാൻറെ കണ്ണാടി പൊളിക്കരുതു”
— English Translation:
Do not smash someone else's mirror because your own face looks dried up and withered. (Do not attack the messenger or destroy the truth simply because reality exposes your own shortcomings.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തൻറെ കയ്യെ തലക്കു വെച്ചുകൂടു”
— English Translation:
Only your own hand can serve as a dependable headrest. (Ultimate self-reliance; when hardships fall, you must rely on your own strength and resources for support.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്റെയമ്മക്കു തവിടിടിക്കത്തില്ല, ആരാൻറെയമ്മക്കു ഇരുമ്പിടിക്കും”
— English Translation:
Unwilling to pound soft rice bran for one's own mother, but eager to forge heavy iron for a stranger's mother. (Neglecting simple, vital duties toward one's own family while exerting back-breaking labor to impress outsiders.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നെത്താനറിയാഞ്ഞാൽ പിന്നെത്താനറിയും”
— English Translation:
If you refuse to recognize your limits now, you will learn them later through bitter experience. (If you lack self-awareness voluntarily, public defeat and painful consequences will forcefully instruct you.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നിഷ്ട്ടം പൊന്നിഷ്ട്ടം, ആരാന്റെയിഷ്ട്ടം വിമ്മിഷ്ട്ടം”
— English Translation:
One's own desire is golden delight; another's desire is sheer nuisance. (Selfish double standards; we indulge our own whims as precious while finding the wishes of others intolerable.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നൂർ പേയും അയലൂർ വെള്ളവും പേടി”
— English Translation:
Dread the ghost from your own village, and fear the floodwaters from the neighboring land. (Local adversaries know your intimate vulnerabilities, while outside crises strike without warning; be wary of both domestic spite and foreign peril.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
തന്നെക്കൊല്ലുവാൻ വന്ന പശുവിനെ കൊന്നാൽ ദോഷമില്ല”
— English Translation:
There is no sin in slaying even a sacred cow if it charges to murder you. (Self-defense overrides traditional taboos; saving your own life against a mortal threat is the paramount moral law.)