Irish Proverbs Friends Love Sayings

Irish culture is rich with proverbs that beautifully capture the essence of friendship and love. These timeless sayings have been passed down through generations and continue to inspire and resonate with people around the world. Let's explore some of these heartfelt Irish proverbs that celebrate the beauty of friendship and love.

1. "A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have."
This charming proverb encapsulates the rarity and preciousness of true friendship. Just like the elusive four-leaf clover, a good friend is a rare find and brings luck and joy into our lives.

2. "May you have love that never ends, lots of money, and lots of friends."
This cheerful wish reflects the importance of enduring love and the value of genuine friendships. It expresses the wish for a life filled with love, prosperity, and meaningful connections.

3. "A faithful friend is a strong defense; and he that hath found him hath found a treasure."
This proverb highlights the strength and protective nature of a faithful friend. It emphasizes that finding a loyal and trustworthy friend is akin to discovering a priceless treasure.

4. "A friend's eye is a good mirror."
This insightful saying underscores the idea that friends provide us with honest reflections of ourselves. They help us see our true selves and offer valuable insights and support along life's journey.

5. "Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it."
This profound quote by Pope John Paul II reinforces the enduring nature of love and its resilience in the face of adversity. It ties in the indomitable spirit of love with the rich history of Ireland.

These Irish proverbs beautifully encapsulate the deep significance of friendship and love in our lives. They serve as timeless reminders of the value of genuine connections and the enduring power of love. So, let's cherish our friendships, celebrate love, and take inspiration from these profound Irish proverbs that continue to resonate across time and borders.

The longest road out is the shortest road home.

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

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Never burn a penny candle looking for a halfpenny.

Two thirds of help is to give courage.

If you get a reputation as an early riser, you can sleep till noon.

Fear is a fine spur, so is rage.

Good care takes the head off bad luck.

The youngest thorns are the sharpest.

Soft words butter no parsnips, but they won't harden the heart of the cabbage either.

The apple falls on the head that's under it.

Sow early and mow early.

The bird that can sing and won't sing should be made to sing.

Wisdom is what makes a poor man a king, a weak person powerful, a good generation of a bad one, a foolish man reasonable.

The road to Heaven is well signposted, but it is badly lit at night.

God likes help when helping people.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

Two Sir Positives can scarce meet without a skirmish.

You will find enough of brushna in every wood to burn it.

He who lives with hope dies happy.

The well fed does not understand the lean.

You can keep away from the rogue, but you cannot keep yourself safe from the liar.

What is in the marrow is hard to take out of the bone.

There are three creatures beyond ruling - a mule, a pig and a woman.

Man to the hills, woman to the shore.

Don't go to law with the devil in the court of hell.

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

Never burn your fingers to snuff another man's candle.

Keep the bone and the dog will follow.

Whiskey when you're sick makes you well; whiskey makes you sick when you're well.

Death is in front of the old person and at the back of the young person.

Keep your tongue in your jaw and your tow in your pump.

Every patient is a doctor after his cure.

Never call a Kerry man a fool until you're sure he's not a rogue.

Speak to the devil and you'll hear the clatter of his hooves.

You've got to do your own growing, not matter how tall your grandfather was.

Irish Sayings in English

A live dog is better than a dead lion.

A live dog is better than a dead lion.

Let your anger set with the sun and not rise again.

Let your anger set with the sun and not rise again.

There is no smoke without fire.

There is no smoke without fire.

Don't go putting wool on a sheep's back.

Don't go putting wool on a sheep's back.

Any man who owns a cow can always find a woman to milk her.

Any man who owns a cow can always find a woman to milk her.

If it's got badly, it'll go badly.

If it's got badly, it'll go badly.

No matter how tall your grandfather was, you have to do your own growing.

No matter how tall your grandfather was, you have to do your own growing.

God fits the back for the burden.

God fits the back for the burden.

From the king to the beggar, they all depend on the farm.

From the king to the beggar, they all depend on the farm.

A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.

A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.

Lions believe that everyone shares their state of mind.

Lions believe that everyone shares their state of mind.

It is not the most beautiful woman who has the most sense.

Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children makes a home.

There is not a tree in Heaven that is higher than the tree of patience.

Take gifts with a sigh; most men give to be paid.

No stopping the force of a going wheel by hand.

A rainy day is not a day for children.

If you put a silk dress on a goat, he is a goat still.

If there is a way into the wood there is also a way out of it.

Don't outstay your welcome like a neighbor's goat.

There never was an old slipper but there was an old stocking to match it.

Live in my heart and pay no rent.

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

That which is nearest a woman's heart is the first to come out.

If God sends you down a stony path, may he give you strong shoes.

Hope is the physician of each misery.

There's as many good horses in carts as in coaches.

Beware of the anger of a patient man.

It is the deaf people that create the lies.

The beginning and end of one's life is to draw closer to the fire.

Go to a man who is in difficulty and you'll get a bargain.

Noiseless is the approach of the avenging deities.

There's never a wise man without fault.

As sluttish and slatternly as an Irishwoman bred in France.

The best looking-glass is the eyes of a friend.

If you don't know the way, walk slowly.

Don't tell secrets to the children of your relatives.

A welcome is a debtor's face.

Often have the likely failed and the unlikely prospered.

The cat is always dignified, until the dog comes by.

There's no wise man without a fault.

Make hay while the sun shines.

Cleaning the house will not pay the rent.

It is to please herself that the cat purrs.

God's help is nearer than the door.

Though wisdom is good in the beginning it is better at the end.

One beetle recognizes another.

If you go to court leave your soul at home.

The doorstep of a great house is slippery.

A shamefaced man seldom acquires wealth.

Many a defect is seen in the poor man.

If God shuts one door, He opens another.

Help is always welcome, except at the table.

Time and Patience would bring the snail to Jerusalem.

A goose never voted for an early Christmas.

It's a bad hen that won't scratch herself.

The eye should be blind in the home of another.

Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbour. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him.

A barrel that contains the wine will retain the drop in its staves.

Good luck beats early rising.

Only a fool would prefer food to a woman.

To every cow its calf; to every book its copy.

The full person can not understand the needs of the hungry.

Many a white collar covers a dirty neck.

If you lend your coat, don't cut off the buttons.

A hound's food is in its legs.

It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father was hanged.

Even a tin knocker shines on a dirty door.

True strength lies in gentleness.

A man may be his own ruin.

Patience can conquer destiny.

The herb that can't be got is the one that heals.

Marriages are all happy its having breakfast together that causes all the trouble.

There was never a scabby sheep in a flock that didn't like to have a comrade.

If you put a silk suit on a goat it is still a goat.

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way.

Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom.

Patience is a virtue that causes no shame.

It's better to return from the centre of the ford than drown in the flood.

The man of courage never lost it.

A person's heart is in his feet.

Two thirds of the work is the semblance.

Great mansions have slippery doors.

A cabin with plenty of food is better than a hungry castle.

It's easy to knead when meal is at hand.

It was not on one foot that st. patrick came to ireland.

Pity the man who does wrong and is poor as well.

Be there with the day and be gone with the day.

Long loneliness is better than bad company.

The miller's pigs are fat but it wasn't all mouter they ate.

Watching is a part of good play.

Marry a mountain woman and you will marry the mountain.

Marry a mountain woman and you will marry the mountain.

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Even the longest day has its end.

Even the longest day has its end.

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Irish sayings about Friends

No war is more bitter than the war of friends, but it does not last long.

No war is more bitter than the war of friends, but it does not last long.

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One may live without one's friends but not without one's pipe.

One may live without one's friends but not without one's pipe.

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A boys best friend is his mother and there's no spancel stronger than her apron string.

There is more friendship in a half pint of whiskey than in a churn of buttermilk.

There is no need like the lack of a friend.

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

Both your friend and your enemy think that you will never die.

Don't be hard and don't be soft and don't desert your friend for your own share.

A secret is a weapon and a friend.

True friendship is like one soul living in two bodies.

He who has a good neighbor has a good friend.

Your pocket is your friend.

Better the coldness of a friend than the sweetness of an enemy.

Law is costly; shake hands and be friends.

Friends are like fiddle-strings and they must not be screwed too tightly.

A true friend laughs at your stories even when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your troubles even when they're not so bad.

Irish Saying about Love

Love is blind to blemishes and faults.

Love is blind.

It's easy to halve the potato where there's love.

The only cure for love is marriage.

Money swore an oath that nobody that did not love it should ever have it.

It is easy to halve the potato where there is love.

Love conceals ugliness, and hate sees many faults.

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.

The day of the storm is not the time for thatching your roof.

Great talk and little action.

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Marry a mountain girl and you marry the whole mountain.

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Even black hens lay white eggs.

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Better sit beside him than in his place.

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Strife is better than loneliness.

Irish Proverbs Download or Share Images

Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.

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There is no fool who has not his own kind of sense.

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Least said soonest mended.

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If a man fools me once, shame on him; if he fools me twice, shame on me.

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Take gifts with a sigh because most men give in order to be paid.

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For what cannot be cured, patience is best.

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Better own a trifle than want a great deal.

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It is not easy to steal where the landlord is a thief.

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Take heed is a good reed.

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Never trust a spiteful man.

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It is often that a cow does not take after its breed. *

Irishwomen have a dispensation from the pope to wear the thick ends of their legs downwards.

Better fifty enemies outside the house than one within.

A woman like a goose, a sharp pecking woman.

Poor men take to the sea; the rich to the mountains.

Handfuls make a load.

May you never forget what is worth remembering, or remember what is best forgotten.

What butter or whiskey will not cure is incurable.

The nearer the church, the further from god.

A lie travels farther than the truth.

Keep your house and your house will keep you.

What is seldom is wonderful.

If the knitter is weary, the baby will have no new bonnet.

Even the truth may be bitter.

Poverty creates sadness.

He dotes on his midden and thinks it the moon.

A dishonest woman can't be kept in and an honest woman won't.

What won't choke will fatten and clean dirt is no poison.

The person of the greatest talk is the person of the least work.

It's hard to make a choice between two blind dogs.

Death and marriages make changes.

Praise the ripe field, not the green corn.

It is a hard task to comfort the proud.

What's all the world to a man when his wife is a widow.

A woman told me that a woman told her.

Show the fatted calf but not the thing that fattened him.

The pride of women and the pride of priests.

Men are like bagpipes no sound comes from them until they're full.

Every invalid is a doctor.

When a twig grows hard it is difficult to twist it. Every beginning is weak.

A man has often cut a rod to beat himself.

It's no delay to stop to edge the tool.

Praise the youth and they will come.

Discord is less painful than loneliness.

Many a sudden change takes place on a spring day.

When the cat is out the mouse can dance.

Bend with the tree that will bend with you.

The right time to dine is: for the rich man, when he is hungry; and for the poor, when he has something to eat.

Men are more prone to revenge injuries than to requite kindnesses.

A sly rogue is often in good dress.

When the hand ceases to scatter, the heart ceases to pray.

It is a poor village that has neither smoke nor fire.

Pride comes before a fall.

Do not show your teeth until you can bite.

He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

The seeking for one thing will find another.

When the sky falls we'll all catch larks.

A friend's eye is a good mirror.

Put a coward to his metal an' he'll fight the de'il.

It is better to have part of a man than no man at all.

Everyone is nice till the cow gets into the garden.

Where comes a cow the wiseman lay down, there follows a woman, and where comes a woman follows trouble.

Better be quarrelling than lonesome.

It's not a matter of upper and lower class but of being up a while and down a while.

The slow horse reaches the mill.

Everyone is nice until the cow gets into the garden.

Whoever the cap fits, takes it.

Nature breaks through the eyes of the cat.

Put the priest in the middle of the parish.

A good denial, the best point in law.

Youth will have its fling.

He who can follow his own will is a king.

Wisdom is a comb given to a man once he is bald.

Age is honorable and youth is noble.

The steed does not retain its speed forever.

Don't bid the devil good day till you meet him.

Youth sheds many a skin. The steed does not retain its speed forever.

Necessity knows no law.

Red sky at night is a shepherds delight, red sky in the morning is a shepherds warning.

A little of anything isn't worth a pin; but a wee bit of sense is worth a lot.

The day will come when the cow will have use for her tail.

Nobody ever bought peace but the man who hadn't got it.

Everyone lays a burden on the willing horse.

The three faults of drinking are: a sorrowful morning, a dirty coat, and an empty pocket.

Women are stronger than men, they do not die of wisdom.

It's often a man's mouth broke his nose.

Say but little, and say it well.

Praise youth and it will prosper.

Neighbours bring comfort in adversity but only envy in success.

The wise bird flies lowest.

A spender gets the property of the hoarder.

It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.

You can kill a dog more way than by choking it with butter.

Don't bring all your eggs to one market.

The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches.

Sending the goose on a message to the fox's den.

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

Money makes the horse gallop whether he has shoes or not.

Everything troubles you and the cat breaks your heart.

You cannot sup soup with a fork.

Neither gives cherries to pigs nor advice to a fool.

Good as drink is, it ends in thirst.

The silent are often guilty.

Your son is your son until he marries, but your daughter is your daughter until you die.

He who gets a name for early rising can stay in bed until midday.

The wood will renew the foliage it sheds.

An eye is blind in another man's corner.

She would drink the cream and say the cat she had was an old rogue.

It is not a fish until it is on the bank.

You must crack the nuts before you can eat the kernel.

Pulling the devil by the leg is a bad grip.

Talk doesn't fill the stomach.

Don't cut your cactus in a neighbor's garden.

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