Quotations: Maxims & Wise Counsel
 

A rigne is messu don gaís.

(its * slowness * (that) is * worse * for the * wisdom)

The worst of wisdom is its slowness.

A maxim from the gnomic poem "Diambad messe bad rí réil".

Áithiu cech delg is óa.

(sharper * every * thorn * that is * younger)

Younger thorns are shaper.

This maxim is found in "Passions and Homilies" (4136-37), where King David tells his son Solomon that he is more clever and keener-witted than himself, "amal atbeir isin derbárusc" ("as it says in the proverb"), which he then quotes. A slightly different version is found in "Acallam na Senórach" (1384), where Garad begs off playing fidchell with the women of the Fían, claiming that he is too old: "Is áithe cach n-delg as só".

Ar in bith án astaither
A coraib bél bertaigter.

(for * the * world * splendid * is established /
from * contracts * of lips * that are proclaimed)

For the great world is secured
By contracts which are proclaimed.

These two lines of verse are from §36 of "Di Astud Chor". The translation is by Neil McLeod. In traditional Irish law, contracts -- formal agreements between individuals -- were the bedrock on which an ordered society was established. The "social contract" that allowed men to live together without destructive conflict in early Ireland was literally a network of deliberate civil contracts that individuals entered into in public rituals.

Ardibdaba dochell blátha.

(will cut off * inhospitality * flowers)

Inhospitality will destroy flowers.

This maxim is part of Fercertne's long litany of pessimistic pronouncements about the days to come, found in his final speech in "Immacallam in Dá Thúarad". It concisely encapsulates the old belief that human behavior, a king's actions in particular, could influence the fruitfulness of the earth. A gloss in one MS identifies the "flowers" as "mess 7 torud" (wild produce and cultivated fruit).

Béodae cach bráthair fri araile.

(vigorous * every * brother * against * another)

Brothers (or, kinsmen) are energized when they compete against one another.

This maxim was quoted in the "Annals of the Four Masters" for the year 1581, when Cineál Eoghain and Cineál Chonaill came to blows. There were close kinsmen on both sides and the battle was fierce, which led the annalist to remark "ro dearbhadh an dearbh-aruscc airdearc don chur sa, .i. beodha gach brathair fri aroile". (The famous maxim was proved in this instance, that is, 'vigorous is every brother against another'.) A Scottish Gaelic saying encapsulates a similar observation: "Is e farmad a nì treabhadh." (Competitiveness is what gets the plowing done.)

Bes ildánach bid ildírech.

(who [will be / is] multi-skilled [will be / is always] multi-honour-priced)

Whoever is highly skilled is always highly valued.

This maxim comes from the law tract "Uraicecht Becc".

Bid co h-eistechtach cailli,
bid co féchsanach muigi,
oir ní fedrais, mór in mod,
nach biad t' escara it fharrad.

(be * hearingful * of forest /
be * watchful * of plain /
for * not * you know - great * the * deed /
that not * would be * your * enemy * in your * presence)

Keep your ears open in the forest
and your eyes open on the plain,
for you don't know -- this is important --
whether your enemy is near.

This is the eleventh stanza in the poem "Fionn's Advice to Mac Lugach" at the beginning of "Acallam na Senórach". See also "Dá trian do mhíne re mnáibh" in this collection.

Cách a bfuil acat i tig
etir ith is blicht is mil,
nocha berair lat ar sét
in tan racha d'éc, a fhir.

(all * that * is * at you * in * house /
between * grain * and * milk * and * honey /
not * is carried * with you * on * road /
the * time * you will go * to death * o * man)

Everything you have at home,
all your honey, milk and grain,
you can't take with you on the road
when, my friend, you go to death.

This is the third and final stanza of a poem on generosity edited by Kuno Meyer from MS Laud 615, p. 101, in ACL III.3.

Cáid cech rét mad fri canóine comúaimm.

(holy * each * thing * if be * with * scripture * harmony)

Everything that agrees with scripture is holy.

A maxim found in "Sanas Cormaic" #291.

Cé messam do menmain? Cóili & cróidhi & cumce. Ar ní talla nach maith for menmoin cóil crúaidh cumaing.

(what * worst * for * mind ? thinness & hardness & narrowness * for * not * is room for * any * goodness * on * mind * thin * hard * narrow)

What is worst for a mind?
Thinness and hardness and narrowness.
For there is no room for any good in a thin, hard, narrow mind.

This maxim comes from "Apgitir Crábaid", a text attributed to Colmán maccu Béognae, and found in ZCP 3.454, and on line at CELT.