Here are some toasts for friends and family for the new year

It?s that time of year again. You?ve gotten through Christmas, made your resolutions for the coming year and now it?s time to usher in the future with at least one appropriate new years toast. For many, the place to make a new years toast is a holiday party and most of us have and go to more of them at this time of year than any other. There?s nothing quite like clinking stemware before an open fire enjoying the camaraderie of friends and family.

What can one say about that which has past? It?s either ?hate to see you go? or ?good riddance,? depending on how the last 365 days went for you. Whatever be the case, there is somewhere an appropriate new years toast. Consider some of the following while sitting in the dim glow of a table lamp and maybe one new years toast will strike your fancy.

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What are some amusing new years toasts?

New year toasts are not spontaneous even though they may seem to be. You have to give it some thought, even though they usually last barely a minute. Whether original or no, a new years toast should always relate to the people at the party and they are usually not interchangeable; that is, you wouldn?t use the same new years toast for co-workers as you would for friends and family. An effective new years toast should never be forced or given when the speaker has had too much to drink.

Check out some of these, which range in scope from the general to the specific.

1- ?Stir the eggnog, lift the toddy, Happy New Year, everybody?. ? Phyllis McGinley

2- ?In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.? ? Traditional Irish toast

3- ?Here’s a toast to the future, a toast to the past, and a toast to our friends, far and near. May the future be pleasant; the past a bright dream; may our friends remain faithful and dear.? ? Anonymous

4- ?New Year’s Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.? ? Mark Twain

5- ?Here’s to us all, God bless us every one!? ? from Charles Dickens? A Christmas Carol

6- ?For last year?s words belong to last year?s language and next year?s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.? ? T.S. Eliot

7- ?May all the unwanted flotsam and jetsam, of which, you can bet, some flew into our faces throughout the rat-races of this past tumultuous year, find someplace else to fly.? ? Unknown

8- ?May all the things we want and need, somehow, with all due deliberate speed, come our way, by and by.? ? Unknown

If these do not please, don?t forget that old standby of making up your own new years toast to suit the occasion. Just give the situation some thought and concentrate on the feelings you have about the group you are about to toast and it will come to you. A word of caution here: if you are making a toast for your in-laws and you don?t like them, tell your spouse someone else should make the toast.

Better to be safe than sorry and start out fresh for the coming year.

Happy new year and happy new year toast to all!