Every eye forms its own fancy.
He who loses money, loses much; he who loses a friend, loses more; he who loses faith, loses all.
From the day you marry your heart will be in your mouth and your hand in your pocket.
Better to be fortunate than rich.
When a twig grows hard it is difficult to twist it. Every beginning is weak.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
A good retreat is better than a bad stand.
The work praises the man.
Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom.
May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.
God made time, but man made haste.
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
If your messenger is slow, go to meet him.
A questioning man is halfway to being wise.
A wren in the hand is better than a crane to be caught.
The light heart lives long.
If you are enough lucky to be Irish, you are lucky enough!
Say a little and say it well.
No time for health today, no health for your time tomorrow.
There’s no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down.
God’s help is nearer than the door.
The longest road out is the shortest road home.
There is no luck except where there is discipline.
A little fire that warms is better than a big fire that burns.
There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught.
Idleness is a fool’s desire.
Soft words butter no parsnips but they won’t harden the heart of the cabbage either.
Age is honorable and youth is noble.
Every patient is a doctor after his cure.
Better to be a man of character than a man of means.
The fox never found a better messenger than himself.
It’s for her own good that the cat purrs.
If you do not sow in the spring you will not reap in the autumn.
It’s no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking.
A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.
Humour, to a man, is like a feather pillow. It is filled with what is easy to get but gives great comfort.
May the enemies of Ireland never meet a friend.
If God sends you down a stony path, may he give you strong shoes.
Marriages are all happy – it’s having breakfast together that causes all the trouble.
Good sense is as important as good food.
He who comes with a story to you brings two away from you.
A friend’s eye is a good mirror.
A watched kettle never boils.
Who gossips with you will gossip of you.
He is bad that will not take advice, but he is a thousand times worse that takes every advice.
Better good manners than good looks.
Where the tongue slips it speaks the truth.
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
Forgetting a debt doesn’t mean it’s paid.
Slow is every foot on an unknown path.
If you come up in this world be sure not to go down in the next.
Need teaches a plan.
Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children make a home.
The friend that can be bought is not worth buying.
Here’s to eyes in your heads and none in your spuds.
You won’t learn to swim on the kitchen floor.
If you dig a grave for others you may fall into it yourself.
There is luck in sharing thing.
Instinct is stronger than upbringing.
Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege.
Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot.
When fire is applied to a stone it cracks.
When luck comes, it comes by the bucketful.
Always remember that hindsight is the best insight to foresight.
It’s not a matter of upper and lower class but of being up awhile and down awhile.
Nodding the head does not row the boat.
Everyone is wise till he speaks.
There is luck in leisure.
Time is a good storyteller.
People live in each other’s shelter.
Perseverance is the mother of good luck.
There is no need like the lack of a friend.
Broken Irish is better than clever English.
Patience is a poultice for all wounds.
It is easy to halve the potato where there is love.
Face the sun, but turn your back to the storm.
It is not a secret if it is known to three people.
A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
Men are like bagpipes, no sound comes from them until they are full.
Praise the ripe field, not the green corn.
Never burn a penny candle looking for a halfpenny.
A glutton lives to eat; a wise man eats to live.
Nobody is wise till something goes against him.
Bend with the tree that will bend with you.
The stars make no noise.
Good humor comes from the kitchen.
It’s no secret that’s know to three.
Do not bless the fish till it gets to the land.
As well whistle jigs to a milestone as tell troubles to you.
A sword, a spade and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
Ye didn’t turn up when sense being distributed.
He who is bad at giving a lodging is good at show the road.
Don’t make little of your dish, for it may be an ignorant person who judges it.
He is bad that will not take advice, but he is a thousand times worse who takes every advice.
A constant drop wears a hole in the stone.
When the cat is out the mice will dance.
Even a fool has luck.
Not every flatterer is a friend.
Look before you leap.
The end of feast is better than the beginning of a quarrel.
Everything is revealed by time.
No man is wise at all times.
Enough is a feast.
Learning is the desire of the wise.
Hope is the physician of each misery.
It’s hard to teach an old dog to dance.
A constant guest is never welcome.
Gold is light with a fool.
The seekin’ for one thing will find another.
Character is better than wealth.
More Proverbs