12 Great Toasts

Be prepared with a terrific toast.

• "Another year is dawning! Let it be for better or for worse, another year with thee."
• "Come let us drink!" --Rabelais
• "Here's health to those I love and wealth to those who love me."
• "As we start the New Year,
  let's get down on our knees
  to thank God we're on our feet."
• "May all your troubles during the coming year be as short as your New Year's resolutions."
• "May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather."
• "Here's a toast to the future
  A toast to the past,
  And a toast to our friends, far and near.
  The past a bright dream;
  May our friends remain faithful and clear."
• "Here's champagne to our real friends,
  And real pain to our sham friends."
• "Stir the eggnog, lift the toddy, Happy New Year, everybody." --Phyllis McGinley
• "In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want." --Traditional Irish toast
• "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow ye diet."
• "Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter,
  Sermons and soda-water the day after." --Lord Byron

If none of the above tempt you, consider perennials such as "To you!" and "All the best." Or, for emergencies, memorize this toast from Wallace Irwin:

• "I used to know a clever toast,
  But pshaw! I cannot think of it --
  So fill your glass to anything
  And, bless your souls, I'll drink to it!"

Additional sources of wit include the book Toasts by Paul Dickson (Crown Publishers, 1991) and the poetry of Dorothy Parker, Mark Twain, and Shakespeare.