Irish Proverbs
Many quips a strong man will make
| compiled by Ann-Marie Imbornoni | |
- A good beginning is half the work.
- You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
- Many hands make light work.
- Long churning makes bad butter.
- It's no use boiling your cabbage twice.
- Every dog is brave on his own doorstep.
- A little dog can start a hare, but it takes a big one to catch it.
- Do not show your teeth until you can bite.
- The world would not make a racehorse of a donkey.
- Put silk on a goat and it is still a goat.
- An old broom knows the dirty corners best.
- There never was an old slipper but there was an old stocking to match it.
- The old pipe gives the sweetest smoke.
- The windy day is not the day for thatching.
- A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.
- There are as many good fish in the sea as ever came out of it.
- There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught.
- No forcing the sea.
- Men may meet, but mountains never greet.
- It takes time to build castles.
- Time and patience would bring the snail to Jerusalem.
- Patience is a poultice for all wounds.
- If you don't know the way, walk slowly.
- It was not on one foot that St. Patrick came to Ireland.
- Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.
- He who pays the piper calls the tune.
- There is no tune without a penny.
- The best way to keep loyalty in a man's heart is to keep money in his purse.
- A heavy purse makes a light heart.
- The heavier the purse, the lighter the heart.
- Two shorten the road.
- A friend's eye is a good mirror.
- There is luck in sharing a thing.
- Beauty will not make the pot boil.
- Better good manners than good looks.
- What's in the marrow is hard to take out of the bone.
- You can take a man out of the bog, but you can't take the bog out of the man.
- What will come from the briar but the berry.
| - One man's meat is another man's poison.
- The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches.
- If the cap doesn't fit, don't wear it.
- You can't build a barrel around a bung hole.
- It is better to be lucky than rich.
- It is better to be lucky than wise.
- It is better to be lucky than to be an early riser.
- It is not a secret if it is known by three people.
- What I'm afraid to hear I'd better say first myself.
- A kind word never broke anyone's mouth.
- Eaten bread is forgotten.
- You never miss the water till the well has run dry.
- Absence increases sorrow.
- In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
- A light heart lives long.
- When the belly is full, the bones like to stretch.
- Good sense is as important as food.
- The wine is sweet, the paying bitter.
- What butter and whiskey will not cure, there's no cure for.
- Good as drink is, it ends in thirst.
- If you lie down with dogs, you'll rise with fleas.
- Talk of the devil, and he will appear.
- Constant company wears out its welcome.
- Burning embers are easily kindled.
- Poverty parts good company.
- No one is ever poor who has the sight of his eyes and the use of his feet.
- The thief is no danger to the beggar.
- When your hand is in the dog's mouth, withdraw it gently.
- Better be sure than sorry.
- God is good, but never dance in a small boat.
- The grace of God is found between the saddle and the ground.
- God's help is nearer than the door.
- When the sky falls we'll catch larks.
- One swallow never made a summer.
- A silent mouth never did any harm.
- It's often a man's mouth broke his nose.
- Everyone is wise till he speaks.
- Words will not feed the friars.
- Proverbs cannot be contradicted.
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