Gaelic Proverbs: Innate Ability versus Luck (1906)
Collected by the Gaelic Revival Association of Ottawa, Ontario
This collection of Irish proverbs was meticulously compiled by Edmund P. Stanton, the Gaelic Revival Association’s language instructor and vice-president, as well as chief clerk of Canada’s Postal Service. Found in one of the only surviving society papers, this treasury gives a glimpse into the language that was being taught and spoken in Ottawa at the time. Stanton believed these proverbs revealed the true character of the Irish mind, introducing his collection by writing:
“For the bulk of Irish or Gaelic proverbs it may safely be said that in felicity of expression, in terseness of phrase, in epigrammatic quality, in compactness of thought, and quick shrewd seizing of a situation with a corresponding readiness to express it, it is hard to beat them… [these proverbs] it is the duty of those imbued with the spirit of the Gaelic movement not only to cherish but to use.”
Innate Ability versus Luck
Is fearr aon ghaoth fortúin amháin ná do mbeifeá ag briseadh do chroí go deo - Better is one blast of fortune than if you were breaking your heart forever
An té ag a mbíonn an rath air féin bíonn sé ar a chuid gabáiste - If luck is on man it will be on his cabbages
Aithníonnn an donas a duine féin - Misfortune knows her own
Ní bhíonn ón fhear sona ach é a bhreith - The lucky one has only to catch hold of it
Is fearr an t-ádh ná éirigh go moch - Better be lucky than to rise early
Ponc don dlí do bheith séanta - One point of the law is to be lucky
Fear gan seift crochtar - The man without a plan will be hanged
Ní dhéanfaidh an saol capall rás d’asal - The whole world would not make a race horse of a donkey
Ní ón gaoth do thóg sé é - It was not from the wind he got it
Cad do dhéanfadh mac an chait ach luchóg a ghabháil? - What will the cat’s son do but catch mice?
Do gcuirfeá síoda ar mhuic ‘s é binneas a béal cnuasacht - Put silk on a sow, and she’ll still love to root
Ní bhaintear fuil as turnaip - You can’t draw blood from a turnip
Níl amadán ar bith gan a chiall féin - There is no fool but has some sense of his own
Ní ualach don cholann ciall - Sense is no load
Níl séimh nach go beith oilte - No gentleness without education
Nuair a théann an gabhar go hursain ná háil leis go dtéigh sé go haltóir - When the goat goes to the church door he never stops till he gets to the altar
Tabhair a rogha don bhodach agus béarfaidh sé díoga duit - Give his choice to the boor, and he’ll bring you the worst option
Nuair is dóigh le duine é a bheith go deas, á bíonn sé ina chleas margaidh - When a man thinks most of himself, he’s only a laughing stock
Adapted from prose into list format based on: Gaelic Revival Association of Ottawa. 1906. Ottawa University Review. Vol 8 no 9 (June).
For citation, please use: Gaelic Revival Association of Ottawa. 1906. “Gaelic Proverbs: Innate Ability versus Luck.” Ó Dubhghaill, Dónall. 2024. Na Gaeil san Áit Ró-Fhuar. Gaeltacht an Oileáin Úir: www.gaeilge.ca
