i want this translated into Gaeilge; "above all else: to thine own self be true."  
I know that it will not be exact.  as close as possible is great

Hello kirb-ga,

An important disclaimer at the outset: I do not speak, read, or write
any kind of Gaelic.  Nevertheless, to my surprise, I believe I have a
good answer.

A translation of two lines from Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig) to English
gave me a good place to begin:

"Bi dileas duit fein a ris, 
Dileas da d' Ard Righ thar gach dreang."

"Be true to thine own self besides, 
True to thy High-King above all obstacles."

"Carmine Gadelica: Ortha nan Gaidheal" [Gàidhlig]
Sabhal Mór Ostaig
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina/G80.html

"Carmine Gadelica: Ortha nan Gaidheal" [English]
Sabhal Mór Ostaig
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina/B80.html

Gàidhlig-English dictionaries provide the following definitions:

bi: be
dileas: faithful
duit: to you (singular)
féin: self
a ris: again

thar: over, across, beyond
gach: each, every

"Faclair Gàidhlig - Beurla / Gaelic - English Dictionary"
Angus MacKinnon
Imperial College: Condensed Matter Theory Group
http://www.sst.ph.ic.ac.uk/angus/Faclair/

"Gaelic Dictionary - Faclair"
John A. Galbraith
Catholic Church, Western Isles, Scotland
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/pa44/faclair/dict.shtml

Thus, it appears that "bi dileas duit féin" means "to thine own self
be true" (literally "be faithful to yourself") in Gàidhlig.

An Irish Gaelic (Gaelige) dictionary indicates that "bi" is "bí" in
Gaelige, while "dileas" is "dílis"; the other two words of the phrase
appear the same.  Thus, the phrase in Gaelige would be "bí dílis duit
féin".

"Gaelic-L Dictiomary IGGL1.DIC"
Seán Mac Suibhne
Sabhal Mór Ostaig
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~smacsuib/focloir/gaelic-l/index.html

Here are pages that indicate that "bí dílis" and "duit féin" mean,
respectively, "be faithful" and "thine own":

"History page" [in the poem halfway down the page]
Labane National School
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~labanens/localhist.htm

"Na Briathra Folaithe - Bahá'u'lláh - Cuid 1 - ón Araibis (1-20)"
[right hand column, under heading "7"]
Baha'i Faith Pages from Skye
http://www.breacais.demon.co.uk/gaelic/briathran_falaichte/ahw01-20.htm

So that's one part of the phrase.  The rest is "above all else". 
"Thar gach", from the Gàidhlig text, is a good beginning.  The Gaelige
dictionary (cited above) indicates that these words are the same in
Gaelige.

In searching for "thar gach" on Google, I found the phrase "thar gach
rud", and eventually "thar gach rud eile".  The Gaelige dictionary
indicates that "rud" means "thing" and "eile" means "(an)other".  So
"thar gach rud eile" means, crudely, "over every thing other", or more
likely something like "above everything else".

Indeed, this phrase is translated in one document as "most of all",
which is certainly close in meaning.  It is found in the document on
the second line of the last paragraph in the left column of page 2;
the English translation is the first line of the last paragraph in the
left column of page 1.

"Midland Health Board: Annual Report 1999"
Midland Health Board
http://www.mhb.ie/mhb/Publications/AnnualReports/AnnualReport1999/d801.PDF

And several web pages, such as the following page, indicate that "rud
eile" means "something else".

Rudella [Rud eile]
http://www.rudella.com/

So, in sum, the translation of "above all else: to thine own self be
true" into Gaelige would be "thar gach rud eile: bí dílis duit féin."

- justaskscott-ga


I used the following search terms on Google, by themselves or in
combinations:

gaelic
dictionary
"thine own self"
gaelige
gàidhlig
"bi dileas"
"bí dílis"
faithful
"duit fein"
"duit féin"
"thine own"
"thar gach"
"thar gach rud"
"thar gach rud eile"
"rud eile"
else
"something else"

In addition to searching on Google, I browsed the Gaelic dictionaries.

thank you soooo much i have been trying to find this for a long time