As the autumn evenings grow shorter and colder, we’re more likely to be found lingering at the dinner table with friends. Good company calls for a memorable toast, full of wisdom and wished, and perhaps a little homespun wit to raise the spirits. Here are 10 of our favourite toasts:

• May you live as long as you want to, and want to as long as you live.
• May the devil fly off with your worries.
• Here’s to living single and drinking double.
• May our house always be too small to hold all our friends.
• May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.
• May you be in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
• May the most you wish for be the least you get.
• May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, but never catch up.
• May you be blessed with old friends and new ventures, a heavy purse and a light heart.
• Here’s to them that we love, and here’s to them that love we, and here’s to them that love them that we love and to them that love them that love we!

And if you can’t deliver that last toast quickly and smoothly, well, maybe it’s time to put the cork back in the bottle!