Ferr síd sochocad.

Ferr síd sochocad.

(better * peace * (than) a successful war)

Peace is better than a successful war.

This three word maxim is found in “Bríathra Flainn Fína maic Ossu”.

In the poem “An tSí Mhór agus an tSí Bheag”, edited by Douglas Hyde in Amhráin Chúige Chonnacht, the penultimate stanza makes the argument, in Modern Irish, that peace, even an onerous peace, is preferable to war:

Tá sé anois is ariamh á rá
An cogadh is lú go milleann a lán,
Gur fearr an tsíth is measa dlí
Ná bailte is tíortha a bhánú.

Topics: Maxims & Wise Counsel War Peace