Meaning & Analysis
The proverb asserts that the Devil's great knowledge or his capacity for evil ('is nought') is a direct result of his long existence and the vast experience he has accumulated over time.
Insights
Experience without Virtue
The proverb argues that experience and knowledge, gained over a long life, do not inherently lead to goodness. It suggests that age can just as easily cultivate cunning, cynicism, and malevolence as it can virtue and wisdom.
The Intelligence of Evil
It offers a folk explanation for the nature of evil, portraying it not as a chaotic or ignorant force, but as an intelligent, strategic, and experienced power that draws its strength from a long history of observation and manipulation.
A Warning Against Unchecked Veneration
While most cultures venerate elders for their wisdom, this proverb acts as a crucial counterpoint. It cautions that age guarantees knowledge, but not moral integrity, warning one to be wary of wisdom that may be corrupt or self-serving.
Theological Symbolism
Drawing on theological traditions, the proverb casts the Devil as an ancient being whose immense age grants him vast experience. This knowledge, however, is divorced from divine grace, making it a source of cunning and malevolence rather than wisdom.
Psychological Allegory
The proverb serves as a psychological allegory, suggesting that long experience, particularly with human failing and suffering, can lead to cynicism and manipulative intelligence rather than virtue. It personifies the corruption that can come with age untempered by empathy.
Cultural View of Aging
This proverb captures a cultural ambivalence towards old age. While typically revered for wisdom, age is also sometimes associated with cunning, resistance to change, and moral decay. The Devil becomes a powerful symbol for the negative potential of accumulated experience.
Knowledge vs. Wisdom
It implicitly warns that knowledge without a moral compass is dangerous. The Devil's power comes not from ignorance but from a deep, ancient understanding of the world, which he uses for destructive ends, highlighting the distinction between knowledge and true wisdom.
Rhetorical Devices
Personification
The proverb uses the figure of the Devil to personify the concept of ancient, corrupt, and manipulative knowledge, giving an abstract idea a powerful and culturally resonant form.
Causal Statement
The structure 'X because Y' lends the proverb an air of logical certainty and folk wisdom, presenting its claim about the link between age and cunning as a self-evident truth.
Paradox
A paradox is embedded in the idea that knowledge, typically a virtue, is the source of the Devil's malevolence. It challenges the simplistic assumption that to know more is to be better.
Transcription
Quotations
Young men for lacke of yeeres and experience cannot bee wise: And thereof commeth the Proverbe, That the Divell is full of knowledge, because hee is olde.
The devil is naught, because he is old.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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