75 Happy St. Patrick's Day quotes that are pure gold (2024)

St. Patrick's Day is officially upon us.

With a bit of luck, you'll be celebrating March 17 with your lads and lassies by tossing back a pint o' Guinness and singing a few rounds of "Danny Boy."

Even if the plan is to stay at home and await the leprechaun's arrival, you can commemorate the annual Irish celebration by wearing green in support of Emerald Isle and post a St. Patrick's Day quote in honor of the day.

Whether you recognize Irish pride with a meaningful caption on Instagram, in a text or simply by jotting down a few words in a St. Paddy's card, choose from one of these sayings to show your solidarity.

To cover all the bases, we've got short St. Patrick's Day quotes like Tyson Fury's “You can take a man out of Ireland, but you can’t take the Irishness out of the man" or “The heart of an Irishman is nothing but his imagination," by George Bernard Shaw.

Looking for something a little more lighthearted? Try the classic Kermit the Frog line: “It’s not easy being green.”

And, naturally, we've got a supply of funny Irish quotes, too, from comedians like Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert that are sure to get all the laughs this year.

Whatever quote you're looking for this St. Patrick's Day, you're sure to find it in the inspired collection below. Better yet, whoever receives them? Well, their Irish eyes are sure to be smiling.

Best Irish quotes

• “For you can’t hear Irish tunes without knowing you’re Irish, and wanting to pound that fact into the floor.” Jennifer Armstrong, “Becoming Mary Mehan”
• "The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad." G.K. Chesterton, "The Ballad of the White House"
• "To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart." Daniel Patrick Moynihan
• "I'll not rest till I have me gold." Leprechaun, "Leprechaun"

• "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go." Oscar Wilde
• "There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't met yet." William Butler Yeats
• "Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer." Henry Lawson
• "There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." Karen Black
• "When the jig is up, there is no need for additional dancing." Earl Derr Biggers
• "Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose." Tennessee Williams

• "I'm Irish. Being both Catholic and a pirate are almost obligatory." India Holton, "The League of Gentlewomen Witches"
• "St. Patrick's Day is all about being Irish and celebrating life as only the Irish know how." Anthony Hincks
• "Love is the only gold." Alfred Lord Tennyson
• "May the hinges of friendship never rust, or the wings of luve lose a feather." Edward Ramsey
• "Never make an excuse for going to the pub, save it for leaving." Benny Bellamacina

• "Curse this well that me soul shall dwell, till I find me magic that breaks me spell." Leprechaun, "Leprechaun"
• "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Dolly Parton
• "Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough." Mark Twain

Irish blessings and proverbs

• "May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live." — Irish Blessing
• "A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have." — Irish Proverb
• "May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back." — Irish Blessing

• "May you be in heaven a full half-hour before the devil knows you’re dead." — Irish Blessing
• "May the lilt of Irish laughter lighten every load. May the mist of Irish magic shorten every road." — Irish Blessing
• "May the winds of fortune sail you, may you sail a gentle sea, may it always be the other guy who says, 'This drink's on me.'" — Irish Blessing
• "Top of the morning to you!" — Irish Saying

• "For each petal on the shamrock, this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness, for today and every day." — Irish Proverb
• "May good luck be your friend in whatever you do, and may trouble be always a stranger to you." — Irish Blessing
• "May the roof above us never fall in. And may the friends gathered below it never fall out." — Irish Blessing
• "May your troubles be less and your blessings be more. And nothing but happiness come through your door." — Irish Blessing
• "May your home always be too small to hold all your friends." — Irish Blessing
• "May love and laughter light your days." — Irish Blessing

Short Irish quotes

• "You can take a man out of Ireland, but you can’t take the Irishness out of the man.” — Tyson Fury
• “Ireland, once you live there, you’re seduced by it.” — Frank McCourt
• “Ah, faeries, dancing under the moon. A Druid land, a Druid tune!” ― William Butler Yeats, “To Ireland in the Coming Times”
• “You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” — Cormac McCarthy, “No Country for Old Men”
• “To be Irish is to know that in the end, the world will break your heart.” ―Daniel Patrick Moynihan

• “The heart of an Irishman is nothing but his imagination.”―George Bernard Shaw
• “Ireland is a land of poets and legends, of dreamers and rebels.” — Nora Roberts
• "Luck be a lady tonight.” — Frank Sinatra
• “I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure ...” — J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit”
• “When it comes to luck you make your own.” — Bruce Springsteen, “Lucky Town”
• “When I see a rainbow, I know that someone, somewhere loves me.” — Anthony T. Hincks
• “Even when they have nothing, the Irish emit a kind of happiness, a joy.” — Fiona Shaw
• “Up the airy mountain / Down the rushy glen/ We daren’t go a-hunting / For fear of little men." ― William Allingham, "The Fairies"

• “I’ll not rest till I have me gold. Curse this well that me soul shall dwell, till I find me magic that breaks me spell.” — Leprechaun, “Leprechaun”
• “Whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or not, everyone has a little luck o’ the Irish in them.” — Laura Sommers
• “Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.” —Colin Farrell
• “Luck is believing you’re lucky.” —Tennessee Williams, “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Funny Irish Quotes

• “Most Irish Americans feel the same way about St. Patrick’s Day that Italian Americans feel about Jersey Shore.” — Jim Gaffigan
• “I adore the St. Patrick’s Day tradition of fighting your whole family on the front lawn after sundown.” — Ryan Reynolds
• “That’s right, there’s free beer in Irish paradise. Everyone’s jealous.” — Kevin Hearne, “Hammered”
• “​​Irish History Fact: We invented whiskey, sarcasm & bare knuckle brawling. All on the same night. In that order.” — Denis Leary
• “The shamrock is a religious symbol. St. Patrick said the leaves represented the trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s why four leaf clovers are so lucky, you get a bonus Jesus.” — Stephen Colbert

• “Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but if your name is Eisenhower, you’ve got to wear something green to show it.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
• “I will tell you, my body immediately responds to being in Ireland because every single cell in my body says yes.” — Conan O’Brien
• “Do you think anybody knows that I’m Irish?” — Niall Horan
• “They say there are only two kinds of people on St. Patrick’s Day: the Irish, and the people that drive them home.” — Conan O’Brien
• “#StPatricksDay + Friday = AA.” — Jim Gaffigan
• “If you’re Irish, it doesn’t matter where you go — you’ll find family.” — Victoria Smurfit
• “There are only two classes of people — the Irish and those who wish they were Irish.” — Therese Duffy

• “Irish History Timeline: potatoes whiskey poetry potatoes whisky music fistfights whisky NO POTATOES! potatoes whisky JFK whiskey potatoes U2.” — Denis Leary
• “Tomorrow, I will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as I always do: by drinking until ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ makes sense.” — Stephen Colbert
• “If you’ve ever been to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, it’s sexy there. I mean, St. Patrick is the saint of getting it on.” — Will Ferrell
• “It’s St. Paddy’s Day, everyone’s Irish tonight. Why don’t you just pull up a stool and have a drink with us?” — Murphy MacManus, “The Boondock Saints”
• “It’s not easy being green.” — Kermit the Frog, “Bein’ Green”

Irish Quotes about life

• “May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand.” — Author Unknown, "Irish Blessing"
• “When Irish eyes are smiling, sure, ‘tis like the morn in spring. In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing.” ― Bing Crosby, “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”
• “To anyone with a drop of Irish blood in them the land they live on is like their mother. It’s the only thing that lasts, that’s worth working for, that’s worth fighting for.” — Alexandra Ripley, “Scarlett”
• “O Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling. From glen to glen and down the mountainside. The summer’s gone and all the roses falling, ‘Tis you, ‘tis you must go and I must bide.” — Andy Williams, “Danny Boy”
• "When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.” — Edna O’Brien

• "The reason so many people never get anywhere in life is because when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers.” ―Walter P. Chrysler
• “If you overvalue the uncommon, you spoil the uncommon and it begins to think of itself as something very precious! Don’t forget, a three-leaf clover is as valuable as the five-leaf-clover!” ―Mehmet Murat ildan
• “To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.” ―Neil Gaiman,“The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists”
• “All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep root are not reached by the frost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring”
• “Don’t turn around. Don’t look back. Keep moving forward. Keep pushing. The pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow, not the beginning.” ―Ziad K. Abdelnour