Every March somebody asks me for something Irish to put on a card, a toast or a slide. So here is my short list, the ones that have lasted because they are true. A few are in Irish, with the English right behind.
Blessings
- May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
- May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
- May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
- May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you’re going, and the insight to know when you’ve gone too far.
- May there be a generation of children on the children of your children.
Proverbs worth keeping
- Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity.
- Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. People live in each other’s shelter.
- Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte. Health is better than wealth.
- Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. There is no hearth like your own hearth.
- Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón. Often a person’s mouth has broken their nose.
- Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir. Time is a good storyteller.
- A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
- It is no use boiling your cabbage twice.
- You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
- A friend’s eye is a good mirror.
- Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot.
Toasts
- Here’s to you and yours, and to mine and ours. And if mine and ours ever come across you and yours, I hope you and yours do as much for mine and ours as mine and ours have done for you and yours.
- Here’s to a long life and a merry one, a quick death and an easy one, a pretty girl and an honest one, a cold beer and another one.
- May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.
- May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
Why I keep them around
The best ones are small business advice in disguise. No strength without unity is a team. Boiling your cabbage twice is every meeting that should have been an email. Use them in a card, a toast or a first slide. Just do not put them on a mug and call it a brand.
Pick a favorite and send it to somebody who needs it this week. Slainte.