“Though an angel should write, still 't is devils must print.”
The Fudges in England, Letter iii.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Thomas Moore108
Irish poet, singer and songwriter 1779–1852Related quotes
“Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet
Isabella Fyvie Mayo (1843–1914) Scottish poet, novelist, reformer
Reported in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 388.
“… the devil on my right shoulder must have brutally strangled the angel on my left…”
Gena Showalter (1975) American writer
Source: Playing with Fire
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) 19th-20th century Spanish writer and philosopher
Tres novelas ejemplares y un prólogo [Three Exemplary Novels and a Prologue] (1920); Two Mothers
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
Humilitas homines sanctis angelis similes facit, et superbia ex angelis demones facit.
Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher
As quoted in Manipulus Florum (c. 1306), edited by Thomas Hibernicus, Superbia i cum uariis; also in Best Thoughts Of Best Thinkers: Amplified, Classified, Exemplified and Arranged as a Key to unlock the Literature of All Ages (1904) edited by Hialmer Day Gould and Edward Louis Hessenmueller
Disputed
“There are no angels there are devils in many ways”
John Doe (1954) American singer, songwriter, actor, poet, guitarist and bass player
Song lyrics, Los Angeles (1980), The World's A Mess It's In My Kiss
“takes a devil to make a decent angel.”
Tom Spanbauer (1946) American writer
“The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil.”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer
“No. He married an angel, and I married a devil.”
Wanda Toscanini (1907–1998) Italian musician
Source: The Last Romantic, television documentary on Vladimir Horowitz