Gaelic Proverbs: Philosophy of Life (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.”
Philosophy of Life
Fiche bliain ar teacht, fiche bliain ar stá, fiche bliain ar meath, agus fiche bliain gur chuma ann nó as - Twenty years growing, twenty blowing, twenty going, and twenty neither in nor out of it
Tosach agus deireadh an duine chun na tine thriallann - Beginning and end of man - to draw near the fire
Leigheas seanghalair foighne - Patience is the cure of an old complaint
Ní hionann cuid do chur ar an mias agus é ionsá - To put it on your plate isn’t the same thing as to eat it
Is iomaí lá béimid faoi taobh an teampaill - Many a day we shall be at the back of the church
Is lú ná fríde máthair na hurchóide - Smaller than a flesh worm is the mother of mischief
Fill orm, deir an drochghnó - Come back to me, says the bad deed
Níl aon mhaith bheith ag caoineadh nuair imíonn an sochraid - There’s no use crying when the funeral is gone
Is fearr Aifreann roimhe ná dhá Aifreann do dhiaidh - A Mass before [death] is better than two after [death]
Ní bocht go dul go hifreann - ‘Tis the worst fun to be slipping into hell
Níl tuile nach tránn ach tuile na ngrás - No tide does not ebb, save the tide of grace
Is giorra cabhair Dé ná an doras - God’s help is nearer than the door
Níor dhún Dia bearna ariamh nach oscail Sé bearna eile - God never closed one gap that he did not open another
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: Philosophy of Life.” Ó Dubhghaill, Dónall. 2024. Na Gaeil san Áit Ró-Fhuar. Gaeltacht an Oileáin Úir: www.gaeilge.ca
