| 57 | Aia ke ola i ka hana. | Life is in labor. |
| | [Labor produces what is needed.] |
| 103 | Akua nō hoʻi nā hana! | Such extraordinary behavior! |
| | [Said of a person who is mean and willful, with no thought for anyone but himself. He is compared to the heroic figures of old (akua) who were born deformed and abandoned as infants, then rescued and raised to adulthood. Such persons were often belligerent by nature.] |
| 139 | ʻAʻohe hana a Kauhikoa; ua kau ka waʻa i ke ʻaki. | Kauhikoa has nothing more to do; his canoe is resting on the block. |
| | [His work is all done.] |
| 140 | ʻAʻohe hana a Kauhikoa, ua kau ke poʻo i ka uluna. | Kauhikoa has nothing more to do but rest his head on the pillow. |
| | [Everything is done and one can take his ease. Kauhikoa, a native of Kohala, was a clever person who could quickly accomplish what others would take months to do.] |
| 141 | ʻAʻohe hana i nele i ka uku. | No deed lacks a reward. |
| | [Every deed, good or bad, receives its just reward.] |
| 142 | ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia. | No task is too big when done together by all. |
| 174 | ʻAʻohe loa i ka hana a ke aloha. | Distance is ignored by love. |
| 262 | E aʻo i ka hana o pā i ka leo o ka makua hūnōai. | Learn to work lest you be struck by the voice of the parent-in-law. |
| | [Advice to a son or daughter before marriage.] |
| 276 | E hana mua a paʻa ke kahua ma mua o ke aʻo ana aku iā haʻi. | Build yourself a firm foundation before teaching others. |
| 307 | Eia ʻo Kuʻiʻaki me Huanu ke hana nei i ka lāua hana o ka ʻohi ʻiʻo pūpū. | Here are Kuʻiʻaki and Huanu doing their work gathering shellfish. |
| | [An intense cold. A play on Kuʻi-ʻaki (Gritting-the-molars) and Hu-anu (Overflowing-cold). Huanu is Hawaiian for Juan.] |
| 323 | E kuahui like i ka hana. | Let everybody pitch in and work together. |
| 445 | Hana a ke kama ʻole, hele ʻopeʻope i ke ala loa. | A person who has not raised a child may go along with his bundles on the road. |
| | [Said of an aged person who has no one to care for him. Had he troubled to rear children they could take care of him when he was old.] |
| 446 | Hana a lau a lau ke aho, a laila loaʻa ka iʻa kāpapa o ka moana. | Make four hundred times four hundred fish lines before planning to go after the fighting fish of the sea. |
| | [Be well prepared for a big project.] |
| 447 | Hana a mikioi, lawe a ʻauliʻi. | Be deft and dainty. |
| | [Said to young people: Be neat, sweet and clever — not crude and blundering.] |
| 448 | Hana Hilo i ka poʻi a ka ua. | Hilo works on the lid of the rain. |
| | [Refers to the constant showers typical of Hilo district on Hawaiʻi. This is the first line of a chant.] |
| 454 | Hana ʻino i ka ke kino ʻelemakule a hoʻomakua aku i ka haʻi. | Mistreat your own oldsters and the day may come when youll be caringfor someone else’s. |
| | [Said to a rude or ungrateful child. You should think of your own elder first, while he is alive, lest after his death you must take care of someone who had no part in rearing you.] |
| 455 | Hana ʻiʻo ka haole! | The white man does it in earnest! |
| | [Hawaiians were generally easygoing and didn’t order people off their lands or regard them as trespassers. When the whites began to own lands, people began to be arrested for trespassing and the lands were fenced in to keep the Hawaiians out.] |
| 457 | Hana ka iwi a kanaka makua, hoʻohoa. | First get some maturity into the bones before challenging. |
| 458 | Hana kāpulu ka lima, ʻai ʻino ka waha. | Careless work with the hands puts dirty food in the mouth. |
| 459 | Hana ka uluna i ka paka ua. | Prepare the pillow when the raindrops appear. |
| | [Get ready for a period of rest. When a storm came, farming and fishing were suspended and the worker remained at home, either resting or doing little chores.] |
| 461 | Hana mai nō a kā mai nō i ka ʻino. | He does for us, then he strikes us with evil. |
| | [Said of a kahuna who helps to heal and then, annoyed with the patient or patient’s family, asks the ʻaumakua to return the sickness.] |
| 462 | Hana mao ʻole ka ua o Hilo. | Endlessly pours the rain of Hilo. |
| | [Said of anything that goes on and on, as the pouring rain, or of havoc such as that produced by a torrent. Names of other places are sometimes substituted for Hilo.] |
| 567 | He hana maka ʻenaʻena. | A work that causes red, hot eyes. |
| | [A task that requires so much work it deprives one of sleep.] |
| 904 | He pohō na ka pohō, ʻo ke akamai no ke hana a nui. | Sinking is to be expected where it is naturally found, but one should use as much skill as possible [to avoid it]. |
| | [Losses come easily; it requires skill and wisdom to avoid them.] |
| 1071 | Hoʻokahi no hana a Palapala ʻo ka ʻohi i ka iʻa. | All that Palapala does is gather fish. |
| | [Although we do all the hard work, another comes along and reaps the harvest. Palapala was a noted warrior of Kāʻanapali, Maui. When the fishermen went deep-sea fishing with hook and line, he accompanied them. Whenever a fish would become unfastened and float to the surface, Palapala would take it, uttering these words.] |
| 1176 | I kahi ʻē ka malia, hana i ka makau. | While fair weather is still far away, make your fishhooks. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1295 | Ka hana a ka mākua, ʻo ka hana nō ia a keiki. | What parents do, children will do. |
| 1296 | Ka hana a ke aloha, he kohu mūheʻe i ke alo pali. | The action of a lover is like that of a squid at the face of a precipice. |
| | [A squid is said to be a creature that goes every which way. A squid-like lover is not to be trusted.] |
| 1428 | Ka lā koi hana o Lahainaluna. | The sun of Lahainaluna urges one to work. |
| | [Daytime at the Lahainaluna School is occupied with studying and working.] |
| 1454 | Kamaʻilio ka waha, hana ka lima. | Let the mouth talk while the hands work. |
| | [While talking, keep the hands busy.] |
| 1481 | Kamaʻomaʻo, ka ʻāina huli hana. | At Kamaʻomaʻo, land of activities. |
| | [Ghosts who do not go to the pō of their ancestors often wander about in certain areas. Kamaomao, Maui, is such a place. The activities of such ghosts usually annoy the living.] |
| 1671 | Ke akua liʻiliʻi hana ʻole i ka lani me ke honua. | Little god who did not create heaven and earth. |
| | [A saying used by Christian Hawaiians to express scorn for any god of old Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1702 | Keikei kūlana hale wili, ʻaʻohe mea hana o loko. | A fine-looking mill, but no machinery inside. |
| | [Good-looking but unintelligent. Taken from a hula song.] |
| 1761 | Ke kula o Kamaʻomaʻo ka ʻāina huli hana. | The plain of Kamaʻomaʻo — that is the place where plenty of work is to he found. |
| | [A taunt to one who talks of looking for work but does not do it. The plain of Kamaʻomaʻo, Maui, was said to be the haunt of ghosts whose activities were often terrifying.] |
| 1883 | Kuʻikuʻi, hana pele; holo i uka, holo i kai, holo i kahi e peʻe ai a nalo. | Pound, pound, pulverize; run mountainward, run seaward, run till you find a hiding place and hide. |
| | [The chant used in hide-and-go-seek. One child gently pounds the back of the “master” and repeats this chant while the other children run and hide.] |
| 1892 | Kū ka paila, hana ka hāʻawe. | A pile has accumulated; now to carry the load. |
| | [Said of a big accumulation of work that requires effort to clear up. Paila is Hawaiianized from the English “pile.”] |
| 1901 | Kū ke paʻi, hana ka hāʻawe. | A big heap that requires carrying on the back. |
| | [A heap of work.] |
| 1995 | Liʻiliʻi manu ʻai laiki, akamai i ka hana pūnana. | Small is the rice bird but an expert in nest building. |
| | [He may be insignificant but he’s a good worker.] |
| 2045 | Mai hana wale aku, he niho. | Do not annoy [him, for] he has teeth. |
| | [Do not tamper with him, for he knows the art of sorcery.] |
| 2088 | Ma ka hana ka ʻike. | In working one learns. |
| 2090 | Ma kahi o ka hana he ola ma laila. | Where work is, there is life. |
| 2100 | Makaʻu ka hana hewa i ka uka o Puna. | Wrongdoing is feared in the upland of Puna. |
| | [Wrongdoing in the upland of Puna brings the wrath of Pele.] |
| 2214 | Nā hana pōʻalo maka. | Eye-scooping deeds. |
| | [Acts of treachery toward those who have shown kindness.] |
| 2267 | Nānā ka maka; hana ka lima. | Observe with the eyes; work with the hands. |
| | [Just watching isn’t enough. Pitch in and help!] |
| 2318 | Noʻeau ka hana a ka ua; akamai ka ʻimina o ka noʻonoʻo. | Clever are the deeds of the rain; wise in seeking knowledge. |
| | [Said in admiration of a clever person.] |
| 2386 | ʻOi hoʻi he hana hāʻawe o kaumaha. | It isn’t work to carry this heavy burden on the back. It’s no trouble at all. |
| 2388 | ʻOi kau ka lā, e hana i ola honua. | While the sun yet shines do all you can. |
| | [While there is earthly life (ola honua), do all you can.] |
| 2403 | ʻO ka hana ia a ka lawaiʻa iwi paoa, iho nō ka makau, piʻi nō ka iʻa. | That is the way of a fisherman with lucky bones — down goes his hook, up comes a fish. |
| | [Said of a lucky person. It was believed that certain people’s bones brought them luck in fishing. When they died their bones were sought for the making of fishhooks.] |
| 2410 | ʻO ka ʻīlio i paoa ka waha i ka hua moa ʻaʻole e pau ia hana iā ia. | A dog whose mouth likes the taste of eggs will not stop taking them. |
| | [Said of one who cannot be cured of a bad habit.] |
| 2437 | ʻO ka pono ke hana ʻia a iho mai nā lani. | Continue to do good until the heavens come down to you. |
| | [Blessings come to those who persist in doing good.] |
| 2468 | ʻOki pau ka hana i ke one kani o Nohili. | Strange indeed are the activities at the sounding sands of Nohili. |
| | [Barking Sands beach of Nohili, Kauaʻi, was believed to be the haunt of ghosts. Said of a person whose behavior is peculiar.] |
| 2511 | ʻO Muku ka lā, mumuku nā hana. | Muku is the day; incomplete are the tasks. |
| | [A warning not to begin a project on the day of Muku lest it be unsuccessful.] |
| 2559 | Paʻa ka waha, hana ka lima. | Shut the mouth; keep the hands busy. |
| | [Never mind the talking; start working.] |
| 2606 | Pau kā ʻoe hana, pio kā ʻoe ahi, pala kā ʻoe ʻāhui. | Your work is done, your fire is extinguished, your [banana] bunch has ripened. |
| | [Said by Kahekili, chief of Maui, after he defeated Peleioholani of Oʻahu. Used with relief and gladness that a person has died. Common in old newspapers.] |
| 2660 | Pipili i ka hana makamaka ʻole, hoʻokahi nō makamaka o ke kaunu a ka manaʻo. | Sticks to the work in which friends are ignored; only one friend is considered, the desire of the heart. |
| | [Said of one who is in love and pays no attention to anyone except the object of his affection.] |
| 2725 | Puka ka lā, puka pū me ka hana, i ʻike ʻia ka lālā maloʻo me ka lālā maka. | When day arrives, work time arrives too, for it is then that dry branches can be distinguished from green ones. |
| 2776 | Ua ʻelepaio ʻia ka hana. | The work has [been spoiled by an] ʻelepaio. |
| | [Said of any task that has to stop before completion. The ʻelepaio is always the first of the birds to awaken and call, thus telling the supernatural workers of the night, such as the menehune, that day approaches. Any incomplete work is then deserted.] |
| 2843 | Ua paʻi a paʻi ma ka hana. | Equals in working. |
| 2884 | ʻUʻuku ka hana, ʻuʻuku ka loaʻa. | Little work, little gain. |