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| A customary railer is the devil’s bagpipe. | 1 |
| As good eat the devil as the broth he is boiled in. | 2 |
| At the end of the play the devil waits. German. | 3 |
| Away goes the devil when he finds the door shut against him. | 4 |
| Call not the devil, he will come fast enough unbidden. Danish. | 5 |
| Cast a bone in the devil’s teeth and it will save you. | 6 |
| Devils must be driven out with devils. German. | 7 |
| Devil’s play and wine will together. German. | 8 |
| Do not make two devils of one. French. | 9 |
| Don’t mention the cross to the devil. Italian. | 10 |
| Don’t tell the devil too much of your mind. | 11 |
| Even the devil has rights. German. | 12 |
| From a closed door the devil turns away. Portuguese. | 13 |
| Give even the devil his due. | 14 |
| Give the devil a finger and he’ll take the whole hand. | 15 |
| Give the devil rope enough and he’ll hang himself. | 16 |
| Great cry and little wool, quoth the devil when he sheared his hogs. | 17 |
| He had need of a long spoon that supped with the devil. | 18 |
| He is good as long as he is pleased and so is the devil. | 19 |
| He is not so much of a devil as he is black. French. | 20 |
| He knows one point more than the devil. | 21 |
| He knows where the devil carries his tail. Italian. | 22 |
| He must be a clever host that would take the devil into his hostelry. Danish. | 23 |
| He must be ill favored who scares the devil. Danish. | 24 |
| He must cry loud who would scare the devil. Danish. | 25 |
| He must have iron fingers who would flay the devil. Danish. | 26 |
| He must needs go whom the devil drives. | 27 |
| He needs a long spoon that would eat out of the same dish with the devil. Danish. | 28 |
| He that has swallowed the devil may swallow his horns. Italian. | 29 |
| He that hath the devil on his neck must find him work. Dutch. | 30 |
| He that is afraid of the devil does not grow rich. Italian. | 31 |
| He that is embarked with the devil must sail with him. Dutch. | 32 |
| He that shippeth the devil must make the best of him. | 33 |
| He that takes the devil in his boat must carry him over the sound. | 34 |
| He that the devil drives, feels no lead at his heels. | 35 |
| He that worketh journey-work with the devil shall never want work. | 36 |
| He who has once invited the devil into his house will never be rid of him. German. | 37 |
| Ill doth the devil preserve his servants. | 38 |
| It costs the devil little trouble to catch a lazy man. German. | 39 |
| It is a sin to belie the devil. | 40 |
| It is an ill battle where the devil carries the colors. | 41 |
| It is an ill procession where the devil holds the candle. | 42 |
| It is easy to bid the devil be your guest, but difficult to get rid of him. Danish. | 43 |
| It is good sometimes to hold a candle to the devil. | 44 |
| It is not for nothing the devil lays down in the ditch. Danish. | 45 |
| Let the devil get into the church and he will mount the altar. German. | 46 |
| Let the devil never find you unoccupied. Latin. | 47 |
| Make not even the devil blacker than he is. | 48 |
| Needs must when the devil drives. | 49 |
| Never was hood so holy, but the devil could get his head in it. Dutch. | 50 |
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| One devil does not make hell. Italian. | 51 |
| One devil drives out another. Italian. | 52 |
| One devil knows another. | 53 |
| One may understand like an angel and yet be a devil. | 54 |
| One must sometimes hold a candle to the devil. Dutch. | 55 |
| Open not your door when the devil knocks. | 56 |
| Pulling the devil by the tail does not lead far young or old. French. | 57 |
| Raise no more devils than you can lay. German. | 58 |
| Renounce the devil and thou shalt wear a shabby cloak. Spanish. | 59 |
| Resist the devil and he will flee from thee. New Testament. | 60 |
Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do. Watts. | 61 |
Satan now is wiser than before,
And tempts by making rich, not making poor. Pope. | 62 |
| Satan’s friendship reaches to the prison door. Turkish. | 63 |
| Seldom lies the devil dead in a ditch. | 64 |
| Talk of the devil and you hear his bones rattle. Dutch. | 65 |
| Talk of the devil and his imp appears. | 66 |
| Talk of the devil and he’ll either send or come. | 67 |
| Tell everybody your business and the devil will do it for you. Italian. | 68 |
| Tell the truth and shame the devil. | 69 |
| The devil alone can cheat the Hebrew. Polish. | 70 |
| The devil always leaves a stink behind. | 71 |
| The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. Shakespeare. | 72 |
| The devil cannot receive a guest more worthy of him than a slanderer. Fielding. | 73 |
| The devil catches most souls in a golden net. German. | 74 |
| The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition. | 75 |
| The devil entangles youth with beauty, the miser with gold, the ambitious with power, the learned with false doctrine. | 76 |
| The devil gathers up curses and obscenities. German. | 77 |
| The devil gets into the belfry on the vicar’s skirts. Spanish. | 78 |
| The devil goes shares in gaming. | 79 |
| The devil has his martyrs among men. Dutch. | 80 |
| The devil had no goats yet he sold cheese. Modern Greek. | 81 |
The devil hath not in all his quiver’s choice,
An arrow for the heart like a sweet voice. Byron. | 82 |
| The devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. Shakespeare. | 83 |
| The devil is a busy bishop in his own diocese. | 84 |
| The devil is a most bad master. | 85 |
| The devil is always ready at hand when called for. Fielding. | 86 |
| The devil is bad because he is old. Italian. | 87 |
| The devil is civil when he is flattered. German. | 88 |
| The devil is fond of his own. Gallician. | 89 |
| The devil is good to some. | 90 |
| The devil is good when he is pleased. | 91 |
| The devil is in the dice. | 92 |
| The devil is master of all arts. German. | 93 |
| The devil is never nearer than when we are talking of him. | 94 |
| The devil is not always at a poor man’s door. French. | 95 |
| The devil is not always at one door. | 96 |
| The devil is not in the quality of the wine but in the excess. Turkish Spy. | 97 |
| The devil is not so black (or ugly) as he is painted. Italian, German, Portuguese, Dutch. | 98 |
| The devil is so fond of his son that he put out his eyes. Spanish. | 99 |
| The devil is subtle yet weaves a coarse web. Italian. | 100 |
| The devil leads him by the nose, who the dice too often throws. French. | 101 |
| The devil lies brooding in the miser’s chest. | 102 |
| The devil likes to souse what is already wet. German. | 103 |
| The devil lurks (or sits) behind the cross. French, German, Spanish, Dutch. | 104 |
| The devil may die without my inheriting his horns. French. | 105 |
| The devil often carries the standard of the living God. Ancient saying. | 106 |
| The devil rebukes sin. | 107 |
| The devil sleeps in my pocket: I have no cross to drive him from it. Massinger. | 108 |
| The devil take the hindmost. Spectator. | 109 |
| The devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil. Italian. | 110 |
| The devil turns away from a closed door. Italian, Spanish. | 111 |
| The devil was handsome when he was young. French. | 112 |
The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be,
The devil was well, the devil a monk was he. | 113 |
| The devil when he grows poor becomes an excise man. Modern Greek. | 114 |
| The devil will not come into Cornwall (England) for fear of being put into a pie. | 115 |
| The devil will play at small games rather than none at all. | 116 |
| The devil will tempt Lucifer. Italian. | 117 |
| The devil would have been a weaver but for the temple. | 118 |
| The devil’s behind the glass. | 119 |
| The devil’s children have the devil’s luck. | 120 |
| “The devil’s in the cards” said Sam, “four aces and not a single trump.” | 121 |
| The devil’s meal turns half to bran. French, German. | 122 |
| There is no head so holy that the devil does not make a nest in it. German. | 123 |
| They have begun a dispute which the devil will not let them end. | 124 |
| They run fast whom the devil drives. | 125 |
| They were both equally bad and the devil put them together. | 126 |
| ’Tis an ill procession where the devil carries the cross. | 127 |
| To crow well and scrape ill is the devil’s trade. | 128 |
| What is gotten over the devil’s back is spent under his belly. | 129 |
| What the wind gathers, the devil scatters. (Ill come goods never stay.) Modern Greek. | 130 |
| When every man gets his own the devil gets nothing. Danish. | 131 |
| When the devil finds the door shut he goes away. French, Spanish. | 132 |
| When the devil gets into the church, he seats himself on the altar. Dutch. | 133 |
| When the devil grows old he turns hermit. French, Italian. | 134 |
| When the devil says his pater noster, he means to cheat you. French, Spanish. | 135 |
| When the devil was sick he thought to become a monk. German. | 136 |
| When your devil was born mine was going to school. Italian. | 137 |
| Where none else will, the devil himself must bear the cross. | 138 |
| Where the devil cannot put his head he puts his tail. Italian. | 139 |
| Where the devil cannot go himself, he sends an old woman. German. | 140 |
| Who serves God is the devil’s master. German. | 141 |
| You pious rogue, said the devil to the hermit. German. | 142 |
| You would be little for God, if the devil were dead. | 143 |
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