Telugu proverbs

Proverbs from all Telugu speaking parts of the world.

A

 * అనువుగాని చోట నధికుల మనరాదు
 * Transcription: Anuvugāni chōṭa nadhikula manarādu
 * In an unsuitable place we should not assert our superiority
 * Nearest English equivalent: There's a time and place for everything.


 * అంత్య నిష్టురముకన్నా ఆది నిష్టురమే మేలు
 * Transcription: Antya niṣṭuramukannā ādi niṣṭuramē mēlu
 * Annoyance at the beginning is better than annoyance at the end


 * అంధునకు అద్దము చూపినట్టు
 * Transcription: Andhunaku addamu cūpinaṭṭu
 * Like giving a blind man a looking glass.


 * అంబలి తాగేవారికి మీసాలు ఎగబట్టేవారు కొందరా
 * Transcription: Ambali tāgēvāriki mīsālu egabaṭṭēvāru kondarā
 * Do people that live on porridge keep men to hold up their mustaches ?

D

 * డబ్బులేని వానికి బోగముది తల్లి వరస.
 * Transcription: ḍabbulēni vāniki bhōgamudi talli varasa.
 * A harlot is as a mother to a man without money.
 * English equivalent: Something beyond the reach of a man’s means.

G

 * గుడ్డివాడెరుగునా కుందనపు చాయ.
 * Transcription: guḍḍivāḍerugunā kundanapu cāya
 * Can a blind man discern the color of pure gold?
 * English equivalent: A blind man should not judge of colours.
 * "An uneducated man cannot judge of the attainments of the learned."

K

 * కొండ నాలుక కు మందు వేస్తే, ఉన్న నాలుక ఊడిందంట
 * Transcription: Konda naaluka ku mandhu vesthe, unna naaluka oodindhanta.
 * When he applied medicine to the uvula, it took out the whole tongue.
 * English equivalent: The remedy is often worse than the disease.

N

 * నక్క యెక్కడ, దేవలోకమెక్కడ.
 * Transcription: nakka yekkaḍa, dēvalōkamekkaḍa.
 * Where is the jackal? where is heaven?
 * English equivalent: What prospect has the jackal of entering heaven?
 * "A hopeless idea."

R

 * రేపు అనే రోజు వున్నదా.
 * Transcription: rēpu anē rōju vunnadā
 * Is there a day called tomorrow?
 * English equivalent: Tomorrow comes never.
 * "There’s no hope without endeavor. Hope has no meaning unless we are prepared to work to realize our hopes and dreams."
 * Aung San Suu Kyi, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought Acceptance Speech by Aung San Suu Kyi, Strasbourg, 22 October 2013


 * He is no friend that eats his own by himself and mine with me.
 * "Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years."
 * Richard Bach, Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)


 * టతానననక ఆాజxత
 * (Every man) thnks the world like himself.
 * English equivalentː Don't measure others by your own yardstick.