Irish Proverbs

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.




Read more Irish quotes.




• 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.




Learn about ten major Irish saints.




• 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.




What's a proverb?

• 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.




Read about St. Patrick's Day history.




• 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.