...a prayer for every politician:
pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches.
Amen.
— Anna Quindlen, Blessed is the Full Plate: America the Hungry (Newsweek, November 26, 2007)

Pray for peace and grace and spiritual food,
For wisdom and guidance, for all these are good,
But don’t forget the potatoes.
— J. T. Pettee, Prayer and Potatoes

Blessings, Benedictions and Songs of Comfort

I have lawns, I have bowers,
I have fruits, I have flowers.
The lark is my morning charmer;
So you jolly dogs now,
Here's God bless the plow--
Long life and content to the farmer."
— Rhyme on an old pitcher of English pottery

Blessings be with them, and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves and nobler cares.--
The poets who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight, by heavenly lays.
— Wordsworth, Personal Talk

Blessings do not come without sacrifice. Nowhere is this found to be more poignantly true than in the life and death of Hannah Szenes (Senesh).

Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the heart's secret places.
Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor's sake
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
— Hannah Szenes

So here -- with a grateful heart, I leave this campaign with a prayer that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our vast country so much better and that prayer is very simple: God bless America.
—Senator John Kerry

Blessed are those who can give without remembering,
And take without forgetting.
— Elizabeth Bibesco

What blessings thy free bounty gives,
Let me not cast away;
For God is paid when man receives;
T' enjoy is to obey.
— Alexander Pope, The Universal Prayer

And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,
Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,
That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,
And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,
And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky
Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!
— John Greenleaf Whittier, The Pumpkin

Calvin Coolidge’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
We have been a most favored people. We ought to be a most grateful people. We have been a most blessed people. We ought to be a most thankful people.
— Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. President

May your belly never grumble
May your heart never ache.
May your horse never stumble,
May your cinch never break.
— Traditional

Honor, riches, marriage blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing,
Hope, and comfort from above;
Let us each, thy peace possessing,
Triumph in redeeming love.
— Robert Hawker, Benediction

“Bless, oh Lord,
the courage of this Prince
and prosper the works
in his hands and
may his land be
filled with apples.”
— Ancient Saxon Coronation Benediction

“Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.” — Leo Aikman

“There is an apple-tree with huge apples such as grow in fairy dwellings (great are these blessings), and an excellent clustered crop from small-nutted branching green hazels.” — Early Irish Lyrics: Eighth to Twelfth Century Edited & translated, Gerard Murphy 1956 (Oxford – The Clarendon Press)

“Blessed is he that getteth understanding.”
— Thomas Carlyle, Inaugural Address at Edinburgh (quoting)

“For blessed are the givers, and more happy in the end
Is the boy or girl who joyfully shares with a poorer friend.”
— John Graham Boulton, December 1918, Poems and Prose

“Bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them that hurt you.”
— John Hilton, (1599-1657)

“May fortune meet you every way and fill your life with blessings.”
— Unknown

“I pray to heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but the honest and wise rule under this roof.”
— John Adams, White House Blessing

“Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire
To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire;
Blest that abode, where want and pain repair,
And every stranger finds a ready chair;
Blest be those feasts with simple plenty crowned,
Where all the ruddy family around
Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail,
Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale;
Or press the bashful stranger to his food,
And learn the luxury of doing good.”
— Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveler

Monday's Child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child has to work for its living,
But a child that's born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.
— Traditional

“You are the blessing of Heaven in this house.”
— Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi

“God bless the man who first invented sleep!”
So Sancho Panza said, and so say I:
And bless him, also, that he did n't keep
His great discovery to himself; nor try
To make it—as the lucky fellow might—
A close monopoly by patent-right!
— John Godfrey Saxe, Early Rising

Mama may have
Papa may have
But God Bless the Child
That's got his own
That's got his own.
— “God Bless the Child,”
by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.

There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,
In the midnight black, or the mid-day blue:
The robin pipes when the sun is here,
And the cricket chirrups the whole night through.
The buds may blow, and the fruit may grow,
And the autumn leaves drop crisp and sear;
But whether the sun, or the rain, or the snow,
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear.
—“A Song,” by J.W. Riley

Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
—Anonymous

Scottish Blessing - Be ye our angel unawares

If after Kirk ye bide a wee,
There's some would like to speak to ye,
If after Kirk ye rise and flee
We' all seem cauld and still to ye.
The one that's in the seat with ye
Is stranger here than ye, maybe.
All here have got their fears and cares,
Add ye your soul unto our prayers,
Be ye our angel unawares.
— Scottish Blessing

Scottish Blessing - May the blessing of light be on you

May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it. And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm. And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star. And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it. May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.
— Scottish Blessing

Gaelic Wedding Blessing

Mi\le fa\ilte dhuit le d'bhre/id,
Fad do re/ gun robh thu sla\n.
Mo/ran la\ithean dhuit is si\th,
Le d'mhaitheas is le d'ni\ bhi fa\s.

Translated as: "A thousand welcomes to you with your marriage kerchief, may you be healthy all your days. May you be blessed with long life and peace, may you grow old with goodness, and with riches." This is attributed to the Rev. Donald MacLeod, minister of Duirinish, Skye, Scotland c. 1760.
—From Christopher Lau, University of Calgary

Old Scottish Blessing - May the hills lie low

May the hills lie low,
May the sloughs fill up,
In thy way.

May all evil sleep,
May all good awake,
In thy way.
—(Source: “Mystery on the Isle of Skye”
by Phyllis A. Whitney)

Old Scottish Blessing - If there is righteousness in the heart

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.
So let it be.

Another Scottish Blessing

Lang may your lum reek. (Long may your chimney smoke.)

A Celtic Prayer

God be supervising your sleeping and your rising.
God be with you waking, bless each undertaking.
God's almighty powers, keep your daylight hours.
God's Spirit strengthen your days as they lengthen.
— (Source: “The Edge of Glory: Prayers in the Celtic
Tradition” by David Adam)

A Gaelic Prayer

Slainte mhor agus a h-uile beannachd duibh

Good health and every good blessing to you!

Chaucerian Blessing

Blesse this house from every wikkede wight,
Fro nyghtes mare werye the with Pater-noster;
Wher wonestow now, seynte Petres soster?”

— (The Mylleres Tale by Chaucer , also Chaucer's The Miller's Tale, annotated version)

Blesse This House

Saint Francis and Saint Benedight
Blesse this house from wicked wight;
From the night-mare and the goblin,
That is hight good fellow Robin;
Keep it from all evil spirits,
Fairies, weazles, rats, and ferrets:
From curfew-time
To the next prime.
— William Cartwright (1611-1643) author, preacher, poet, playwright and divine; from a play titled “The Ordinary,” (written approximately 1635) as quoted in The Sketch Book by Washington Irving.

House Blessing

Oh Thou, who dwellest in so many homes, possess Thyself of this. Bless the life that is sheltered here. Grant that trust and peace and comfort abide within, and that love and life and usefulness may go out from this home forever.
— Recorded by Claudia (Lady Bird) Johnson

Polish Blessing

May your hand be outstretched to all you meet.
And may all men say 'Brother' when they speak of you.
May the land be fertile beneath your feet.
May your days be gentle as the sun-kissed dew.

Middle High German Blessing

“Whose bread I eat, his song I sing.”— Anonymous

A Blessing Spell for Winter Solstice

We ask a blessing on this house,
This happy Eve of Solstice time.
We sing and dance and make carouse
To celebrate deep Winter's clime.

For Herne is here, and Mistletoe.
The Holly and its berries bloom.
We dance a carol, round we go
The Ivy winds about the room.

With wine and cake we make a toast,
And bring a blessing to our host.
— Source: “Encyclopedia of White Magic, A Seasonal Guide,” Paddy Slade, 1990, p. 56.

Solstice Eve Chant

The geese fly high this Solstice morn,
The woods are bare, the snow is deep.
We wait for Herne to sound His horn
To wake His children up from sleep
To celebrate this happy night,
When Winter may be put to flight.
— Source: “Encyclopedia of White Magic, A Seasonal Guide,” Paddy Slade, 1990, p. 56.

Winiter Solstice Chant

Geese and standing stones and mist,
Baying hounds and hooting owl,
Sparkling stars, and snow is crisp
Herne is here. Bring forth the Bowl.
— Source: “Encyclopedia of White Magic, A Seasonal Guide,” Paddy Slade, 1990, p. 56.

The Celtic Blessing of the Nine Elements

May you go forth under the strength of heaven,
under the light of sun, under the radiance of moon;
may you go forth with the splendor of fire,
with the speed of lightening, with the swiftness of wind;
may you go forth supported by the depth of sea,
by the stability of earth, by the firmness of rock;
May you be surrounded and encircled,
with the protection of the nine elements.
— Source: Celtic Devotional: Daily Prayers and Blessings by Caitlin Matthews (Harmony Books, 1996).

German Blessing following a Sneeze

Gesundheit!

Links to More Blessings

Italian Blessings

Toasts Made As Food is Eaten and Glasses Raised

Postcards from the Toasts Collection of John Mehlberg
“Freedom from mobs as well as kings. — An American Revolution Era Toast “Here’s to the four cardinal sins of man --stealing, lying, swearing and drinking. When you steal, steal away from dull companions; when you lie, lie to protect a lovely lady; when you swear, swear by your country; and when you drink, drink with me.” — Jack London, speaking to a group of publishers in New York, 1903.

To the glory that was Greece
And the grandeur that was Rome.
- Edgar A. Poe, To Helen

“May you live all of the days of your life.” - Jonathan Swift

Eat thy bread with joy,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart.
— Ecclesiastes 9:10

“Another glass, Watson!” said Mr. Sherlock Holmes, as he extended the bottle of Imperial Tokay.
“It is a good wine, Holmes.”
“A remarkable wine, Watson.”
— Sir Conan Doyle

“Fifty more Christmases at least in this life,
and eternal summers in another.”
— Charles Dickens, Mr. Pickwick's Christmas dinner toast

“May their days be long, and full of happiness.
May their children be many, and full of health.
And may they live in peace, and freedom.”
- The Quiet Man

“To those gone but not forgotten. And to those forgotten but not gone.” — Shoe Comic 10/27/00

Links to More Toasts and Help Writing Your Own Toasts

On Speech Writing Tips of the Trade - Toasts and Occasional Remarks

A Few More Toasts

Toasts Around the World

Good Toasts

Curses

Without darkness who could appreciate the light? A curse is the flip side of a blessing. Although not very pretty, curses are a part of human behavior, the human condition, our literature and our history. So, here are a few choice curses (be very careful with their use for there is an old saying, “Curses, like chickens, come home to roost”). The best advice in the art and practice of good cursing is to keep it light—as William Burroughs once said, “Casual curses are the most effective.”

May the Devil cut the toes of all our foes,
That we may know them by their limping.
— William Pittenger, Toasts

May the enemies of America be destitute of beef and claret.
— Popular Toast of the American Revolution Era which took the form of a Curse

To the enemies of our country!
May they have cobweb breeches,
a porcupine saddle,
a hard-trotting horse and an eternal journey.
— Popular Toast of the American Revolution Era which took the form of a Curse

But blast the man, with curses loud and deep,
Whate’er the rascal’s name, or age, or station,
Who first invented, and went round advising,
That artificial cut-off, Early Rising!
— John Godfrey Saxe, Early Rising

Go to the dickens.
— Irish curse

The Curse
Lord, confound this surly sister,
Blight her brow with blotch and blister,
Cramp her larynx, lung, and liver,
In her guts a galling give her.

Let her live to earn her dinners
In Mountjoy with seedy sinners:
Lord, this judgement quickly bring,
And I'm Your servant, J. M. Synge.

— John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist who lived from 1871-1909, author of “The Playboy of the Western World”. He wrote “The Curse” to a sister of an enemy who disapproved of his writing.

May his pig never grunt, may his cat never hunt,
That a ghost may him haunt in the dark of the night.
May his hens never lay, may his horse never neigh,
May his goat fly away like an old paper kite;
May his duck never quack, may his goose be turned black
And pull down his stack with her long yellow beak.
May the scurvy and itch never part from the britch
Of the wretch that murdered Nell Flaherty’s drake!
— From Nell Flaherty's Drake

May each of your days be worse than the last and may you live forever.
— Unknown

Links to More Curses
Seven Curses by Bob Dylan

Other Links
Fruitful Literary Quotes