Every beetle is beautiful to its own mother — parental love is blind, seeing beauty where others see none. Also: beauty is entirely subjective and conditioned by love.
This proverb is found across Italy but is particularly beloved in Lombardy, where it is used with characteristic directness. The scarrafon (beetle or cockroach in some dialects) is deliberately the least beautiful creature imaginable — by choosing the ugliest of insects rather than an imperfect but still appealing creature, the proverb makes its point with maximum force. Lombard family culture is not sentimental: parents are expected to see their children clearly. But love overrides clarity, and this proverb acknowledges that fact without embarrassment. In Milan's competitive environment, the saying is also used professionally: every entrepreneur thinks his business idea is beautiful; every designer thinks his collection is perfect. The proverb is a gentle reminder that external judgment may not agree.
Pan-Italian proverb with strong Lombard usage. The directness of the image (choosing a beetle rather than anything more flattering) reflects the Milanese preference for unvarnished truth.
A Milanese mother defending her son's questionable career choice
— Tuo figlio ha aperto il quarto ristorante in un anno, tutti falliti. — Ogni scarrafon è bell a mamma soja. Per me è ancora il miglior cuoco del mondo.
— Your son has opened the fourth restaurant in a year, all of them failures. — Every beetle is beautiful to its own mother. For me he is still the best cook in the world.
Two friends at a Milanese design fair
— Questo designer espone le stesse sedie brutte ogni anno e pensa siano geniali. — Ogni scarrafon è bell a mamma soja. Qualcuno gliele compra, quindi...
— This designer exhibits the same ugly chairs every year and thinks they are genius. — Every beetle is beautiful to its own mother. Someone buys them, so...
A grandmother looking at an unflattering baby photo
— Il bambino nella foto non è molto bello, devo dire. — Ogni scarrafon è bell a mamma soja! Per quella mamma è la cosa più bella del mondo.
— The baby in the photo is not very beautiful, I must say. — Every beetle is beautiful to its own mother! For that mother it is the most beautiful thing in the world.
A startup mentor at a Milan accelerator
Ogni fondatore pensa che la sua app sia rivoluzionaria. Ogni scarrafon è bell a mamma soja — il mercato poi decide.
Every founder thinks their app is revolutionary. Every beetle is beautiful to its own mother — then the market decides.