| 138 | ʻAʻohe hale i piha i ka hoihoi; hāʻawi mai a lawe aku nō. | No house has a perpetual welcome; it is given and it is taken away. |
| | [A warning not to wear out one’s welcome.] |
| 328 | E lawe i ke aʻo a mālama, a e ʻoi mau ka naʻauao. | He who takes his teachings and applies them increases his knowledge. |
| 329 | E lawe i ke ō, he hinana ka iʻa kuhi lima. | Take vegetable food; the hinana is a fish that can be caught in the hand. |
| | [A suggestion to take taro, poi, potato, or breadfruit along on the journey and not worry about meats, which can be found along the way. First uttered by Pele in a chant about the winds of Kauaʻi.] |
| 357 | E nānā mai a uhi kapa ʻeleʻele ia Maui, a kau ka puaʻa i ka nuku, kiʻi mai i ka ʻāina a lawe aku. | Watch until the black tapa cloth covers Maui and the sacrificial hog is offered, then come and take the land. |
| | [Said by Kahekili, ruler of Maui, to a messenger sent by Kamehameha I with a question whether to have war or peace. Kahekili sent back this answer — “Wait until I am dead and all the rites performed, then invade and take the island of Maui.”] |
| 447 | Hana a mikioi, lawe a ʻauliʻi. | Be deft and dainty. |
| | [Said to young people: Be neat, sweet and clever — not crude and blundering.] |
| 640 | He ʻio ʻoe, he ʻio au, he ʻio nā ʻānela o ke akua, kiʻi maila nō iā ʻoe a lawe. | You are a hawk, I am a hawk, and the angels of God are hawks. |
| | [Uttered by Hitchcock, a missionary, over the coffin of a sorcerer who had threatened to pray him to death and referred to himself as an ʻio, the bird that flies the highest.] |
| 860 | He ola na ka ʻōiwi, lawe aʻe nō a ʻai haʻaheo. | When one has earned his own livelihood he can take his food and eat it with pride. |
| 1012 | Hiu a wela, lawe a lilo! | Strike while hot, and take it away! |
| | [Make passionate love and take possession. Win the game and take the prize.] |
| 1323 | Ka iʻa a ka wai nui i lawe mai ai. | The fish borne along by the flood. |
| | [The ʻoʻopu, which was often carried to the lowlands in freshets.] |
| 1324 | Ka iʻa a ke kualau i lawe mai ai. | The fish brought in by the rain at sea. |
| | [The spawn of the manini fish that came to the islands by the millions during the summer months. They were said to come after a shower at sea, in the early morning.] |
| 1363 | Ka iʻa lawe mai a ka makani, he lāʻau ka ʻupena e hei ai. | The fish brought by the wind, a stick is the net to catch them with. |
| | [Said of turtles that come to certain localities in the islands. They were driven ashore with sticks.] |
| 1957 | Lawe i ka maʻalea a kūʻonoʻono. | Take wisdom and make it deep. |
| 1958 | Lawe ka hanu i ʻOlepau. | The breath was taken to ʻOlepau. |
| | [A play on ʻole (no) and pau (finished) Said of one who dies by accident, in a war, etc., and not from natural causes. ʻOlepau is a moon phase in the lunar month.] |
| 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.] |
| 1961 | Lawe ʻo Lehua i ka lā; lilo! | Lehua takes away the sun; [it is] gone! |
| | [The sun is said to vanish beyond Lehua at sunset. In love chants, this saying means that one’s sweetheart has been taken away.] |
| 1962 | Lawe ʻo Maleka i ka hoa lā; lilo! | America takes the mate; [she is] gone! |
| | [This expression was used in a chant of the whaling days, when some Hawaiians lost their wives and sweethearts to the white sailors.] |
| 2327 | Noho nā makani a Kāne, lawe i ke ō. | When the winds of Kāne blow, carry your food along. |
| | [When one doesn’t know what to expect, it is better to be prepared. On windy days, fruits fall and vegetable crops are lashed and beaten.] |
| 2351 | Nūnū lawe leka o Kahului. | Letter-carrying pigeon of Kahului. |
| | [In 1893 carrier pigeons arrived at Kahului, Maui. One was brought to Honolulu and released with a letter tied to its neck. It flew back to Kahului. This was of such great interest to the people that a song was written and a quilt design made to commemorate the event.] |