Telugu proverbs

Proverbs from all Telugu speaking parts of the world.

Arranged alphabetically by author or source:
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Quotes in Telugu

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.
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 8. 

• అంత్య నిష్టురముకన్నా ఆది నిష్టురమే మేలు
  • Transcription: Antya niṣṭuramukannā ādi niṣṭuramē mēlu
  • Annoyance at the beginning is better than annoyance at the end
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 3. 

• అంధునకు అద్దము చూపినట్టు
  • Transcription: Andhunaku addamu cūpinaṭṭu
  • Like giving a blind man a looking glass.
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 4. 

• అంబలి తాగేవారికి మీసాలు ఎగబట్టేవారు కొందరా
  • Transcription: Ambali tāgēvāriki mīsālu egabaṭṭēvāru kondarā
  • Do people that live on porridge keep men to hold up their mustaches ?
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 4. 

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.
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 173. 

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."
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 141. 

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.
  • Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. 

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."
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 216. 

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
  • M. W. Carr (1868). A Collection of Telugu Proverbs translated, illustrated and explained; together with some Sanscrit Proverbs printed in the Devanâgarî and Telugu Characters: By M. W. Carr. A Supplement to the Collection of Telugu Proverbs: containing additional Proverbs, an Index verborum, and an index to the European Proverbs quoted in illustration. Christian Knowledge Society's Press. p. 325. 

• 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)
  • Carr, M. W. (1868). "H". A Collection of Telugu Proverbs. Printed and sold at the Christian knowledge society's Press. p. 140. 

• టతానననక ఆాజxత
  • (Every man) thnks the world like himself.
  • English equivalentː Don't measure others by your own yardstick.
  • Carr, Mark William (1868). "60". A Collection of Telugu Proverbs: Translated, Illustrated, and Explained Together with Some Sanskrit Proverbs Printed in the Devanagari and Telugu Characters. p. 383. ISBN 978-81-206-0261-8.