| 226 | ʻAʻole hiki i ka iʻa liʻiliʻi ke ale i ka iʻa nui. | A small fish cannot swallow a big one. |
| | [A commoner cannot do anything to a chief.] |
| 485 | Hapawalu liʻiliʻi, hāmani wale nō. | A small eighth of a dollar, very smooth to handle. |
| | [An eighth of a dollar is not a high price so one should not mind spending it.] |
| 494 | Hauna ke kai o ka moa liʻiliʻi. | Unsavory is the soup made of little chickens. |
| | [Said of or to a boy or girl who desires to make love when too young to know anything about it.] |
| 762 | He liʻiliʻi ka ʻuku lele, naue naʻe kino nui. | A flea may be small but it can make a big body squirm. |
| | [Never belittle anyone because of his small body; he may be able to do big things.] |
| 883 | He palupalu nā hewa liʻiliʻi i ka wā kolo, lolelua i ka wā kamaliʻi, loli ʻole i ka wā oʻo, ʻoni paʻa i ka wā ʻelemakule. | Small sins are weak in the creeping stage, changeable in childhood, unchanging when an adult, and firmly fixed in age. |
| | [Bad habits can be changed in the early stages but eventually become firmly implanted.] |
| 1109 | Hoʻopau maunu i ka iʻa liʻiliʻi; e kiʻi nō ma ka iʻa nunui. | A waste of bait to go for the small fish; go for the big ones. |
| 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.] |
| 1793 | Kiʻi maka liʻiliʻi. | Small-eyed images. |
| | [Ordinary people.] |
| 1802 | Kinikini kauhale liʻiliʻi o lalo lilo e. “He Ahu au no Kaʻū”; “He ʻIo au no Hilo.” | A multitude are the small houses way down helow. [The inhabitants claim,] “I am an Ahu of Kaʻu’ and “I am an ʻIo of Hilo.” |
| | [This saying is used in anger or to make fun of those who are low in rank yet claim relationship with the high chiefs. A play on ahu (a heap of nothing), ʻū (a grunt of contempt) in Kaʻū, and ʻio, the mighty hawk that sits on any branch it chooses.] |
| 1900 | Kū ke ʻehu o nā wahi ʻauwaʻa liʻiliʻi. | How the spray dashes up before the fleet of little canoes. |
| | [An expression originating in the game kōnane. Trifling things are as dust to experts. Used in a chant of ʻAukele-nui-a-Iku.] |
| 1921 | Kūneki nā kūʻauhau liʻiliʻi, noho mai i lalo; hoʻokahi nō, ʻo ko ke aliʻi ke piʻi i ka ʻiʻo. | Set aside the lesser genealogies and remain humble; let only one be elevated, that of the chief. |
| | [Boast not of your own lineage but elevate that of your chief. Said to members of the junior line of chiefs.] |
| 1960 | Lawe liʻiliʻi ka make a ka Hawaiʻi, lawe nui ka make a ka haole. | Death by Hawaiians takes a few at a time; death by foreigners takes many. |
| | [The diseases that were known in the islands before the advent of foreigners caused fewer deaths than those that were introduced.] |
| 1986 | Lele liʻiliʻi ka lehu o kapuahi. | The ashes of the fireplace are scattered. |
| | [Said of one whose wrath sends everybody going in all directions to get out of his way, or of a scattering of things helter-skelter. This saying came from the scattering of ashes at sea by the kahuna ʻanāʻanā on the night of Kāne or Lono, after he had prayed over and burnt the “bait” taken from the victim.] |
| 1992 | Liʻiliʻi hāuliuli, monimoni ka hāʻae. | Little hāuliuli fish, makes the mouth water. |
| | [Said in reference to a young person who is already wise in the ways of sex and has a strong attraction for the opposite sex.] |
| 1993 | Liʻiliʻi kamaliʻi ʻawahia ke au. | Though the child is small, the gall is bitter. |
| | [Said of a rude, impudent child.] |
| 1994 | Liʻiliʻi kamaliʻi, nunui ka ʻomoʻomo palaoa; liʻiliʻi pua mauʻu kihe ka puka ihu. | Small child, but a big loaf of bread; small blade of grass, but it tickles the nostril enough to cause sneezing. |
| | [Once said by a chiefess in praise of a teenage boy with whom she had an affair, this became a humorous saying throughout the islands.] |
| 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.] |
| 1996 | Liʻiliʻi nīoi hiohio ka waha. | Small pepper makes the mouth blow. |
| | [Said of one who is small but potent.] |
| 1997 | Liʻiliʻi ʻōhiki loloa ka lua. | Little sand crabs dig deep holes. |
| | [Said in disgust of little girls too wise in the ways of sex.] |
| 2274 | Nani ka ʻike a ka heʻe i nā wahi leho liʻiliʻi. | It is wonderful how the octopus notices the little cowries. |
| | [Said sarcastically of a man who looks at young girls with lust.] |
| 2420 | ʻO ka liʻiliʻi pāʻā kōkea ia Kohala, e kole ai ko nuku. | It is the little white sugar stalk of Kohala that makes your mouth raw. |
| | [Said by Pupukea when Makakuikalani made fun of his small size. The fine, hair-like growth on stalks of sugar cane can cause irritation.] |
| 2683 | Pōʻino nā lāʻau aʻa liʻiliʻi i ka ulu pū me ka puakala aʻa loloa. | Plants with fine roots are harmed when left to grow with the rough, long-rooted thorny ones. |
| | [Weak-willed persons are often overcome and influenced by the wicked.] |
| 2713 | Puehu liʻiliʻi ka lehu o kapuahi. | The ashes of the fireplace are scattered in every direction. |
| | [Said of an angry person whose temper makes everybody scatter.] |
| 2810 | ʻUala liʻiliʻi o Kalepolepo. | Small potatoes from Kalepolepo. |
| | [Said of a stupid person.] |