PROVERBS

Irish Proverbs: An Evergreen Selection

Ireland, like most cultures, has a tradition of proverbs -- pithy and concise sayings that express ideas and beliefs commonly held among its people. In Ireland's case, most proverbs have one of two origins. Some were originally Gaelic and were ultimately translated into English as that language grew in dominance. Others are English in origin -- brought across the Irish Sea by soldiers and settlers and, over time, assimilated into Irish culture.

Comfort is not known if poverty does not come before it.

Every invalid is a physician.

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

It's almost as good as bringing good news not to bring bad.

Keep a thing for seven years and you'll find a use for it.

A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows all the corners.

There is pain in prohibition.

He who is bad at giving lodgings is good at showing the way.

One person with a plan helps as much as two people can.

Nearest the heart comes first out.

What's got badly, goes badly.

However long the road there comes a turning.

The devil is good to his own in this world and bad to them in the next.

While the cat is out the mouse will dance.

Better the fighting than the loneliness.

If you want praise, die. If you want blame, marry.

The thing that often occurs is never much appreciated.

A blessing does not fill the belly.

Always touch a newborn baby, or when it grows up it will lift its hand against you.

The worst, most damaging witness is a former friend.

A constant beggar gets a constant refusal.

A dimple in the chin, a devil within.

He who can follow his own will is a king.

It's the first drop that destroyed me; there's no harm at all in the last.

Neither make nor break a custom.

Beauty won't make the pot boil.

A little help is better than a deal of pity.

God never closes one door but He opens another.

Sickness is the physician's feast.

Pity him who makes his opinion a certainty.

Don't say everything you want to lest you hear something you would not like to hear.

Where there's love, there's enough.

The thing that often occurs is never appreciated.

Better an ass that carries you than a horse that throws you.

He is like a bagpipe; he never makes a noise till his belly's full.

In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

The heaviest ear of corn is the one that lowliest hangs its head.

Unwillingness easily finds an excuse.

Three kinds of men fail to understand women -- young men, old men and middle-aged men.

The greatest war had peace at last.

Hunger is the best sauce.

The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.