Ireland is rich in literature that understands a soul’s yearnings, and dancing that understands a happy heart.
Margaret Jackson

Not in vain is Ireland pouring itself all over the earth. Divine Providence has a mission for her children to fulfill; though a mission unrecognized by political economists. There is ever a moral balance preserved in the universe, like the vibrations of the pendulum. The Irish, with their glowing hearts and reverent credulity, are needed in this cold age of intellect and skepticism.
Lydia M. Child (1802-1880)

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;
The best of life is but intoxication.
Lord Byron

There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting.
John Millington Synge

O Ireland isn’t it grand you look —
Like a bride in her rich adornin?
And with all the pent-up love of my heart
I bid you the top o’ the mornin!
John Locke

This is our fate: eight hundred years’ disaster, crazily tangled like the Book of Kells: the dream’s distortion and the land’s division, the midnight raiders and the prison cells.
John Hewitt

The quiet Irishman is about as harmless as a powder magazine built over a match factory.
James Dunne

Who is a friend but someone to toast,
Someone to gibe, someone to roast.
My friends are the best friends
Loyal, willing and able.
Now let’s get to drinking!
Glasses off the table!
Irish toast

What is but age? Something to count?
Some people fight it as if climbing the mount.
I choose life with dignity and grace
And offer a drink to all in this place!
Irish toast

To warm words on a cold day.
Irish toast