Maxims & Wise Counsel

Ná cuindig do chís ...

Ná cuindig do chís
for duine nad·fóel
is ferr úad a lleth
andá a meth mar óen.

(not * seek * your * rent
on * person * that will not bear
is * better * from him * the * half
than * their * failure * as * one)

Seek not to collect tribute
from one who cannot pay;
better to accept half from him
than to lose both man and money.

Con·éitet nád fúacair...

Con·éitet nád fúacair,
for·congair nád ergair.

goes along * that not * discloses /
authorizes * who that not * forbids)

He condones who does not denounce,
he commands who does not forbid.

Is ferr ecna cen suíthi...

Is ferr ecna cen suíthi oldás suíthi cen ecna.

(is * better * wisdom * without * learning * than * learning * without * wisdom)

Wisdom without learning is better than learning without wisdom.

Messam fine fonn fledach.

(worst * of family * fondness * feast-loving)

The worst for a family is fondness for feasting.

Cé messam do menmain?

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.

Doberar béimm n-etargaire ina chinn.

(is given * blow * of mediator * in his * head)

The mediator gets a blow on the head.

Sinn ag loighe ar in lucht romhainn...

Sinn ag loighe ar in lucht romhainn,
lucht oile orainn san úaigh.

(we * at * lying * on * the * people * before us /
people * other * on us * in the * grave)

We rest on those who came before us,
and others will rest on us in the grave.

Mad comairle duit do ben...

Mad comairle duit do ben,
nítbia talam, nítbia nem;
is mairg tréces na huili
ar grád anma óenduini.

(if would be * counsel * for you * your * wife/
you will not have * earth * you will not have * heaven/
is * pitiful * that abandons * the * all/
for * love * of soul * of one person)

If your wife would be your counsel,
you will have neither earth nor heaven;
woe to him who forsakes the whole
for the love of a single soul.

Nírba crúaid ar ná ba áertha...

Nírba crúaid arná ba áertha.
Nírba timm arná ba máelchend.

(I was not * hard * so that not * I might be * satirized.
I was not * soft * so that not * I might be * shorn-headed)

I wasn’t hard, lest I be jeered.
I wasn’t soft, lest I be fleeced.

Níbi lesach nach súanach.

(not-is * successful * anyone * sleepy)

No one who is sleepy is successful.