Meaning & Analysis
When people who habitually flatter each other gather, even the devil finds their company so false or distasteful that he excuses himself from their presence.
Insights
Insincerity Breeds Corruption
The proverb suggests that an environment dominated by flattery and mutual deceit is so morally bankrupt that even the devil—an archetype of evil and deception—finds it excessive or unpalatable.
The Dangers of False Praise
It warns that excessive or mutual flattery corrupts relationships, replacing honesty with manipulation, and eroding trust until there is no room for genuine connection or virtue.
Social Hypocrisy
The meeting of flatterers stands as a metaphor for social circles or institutions where hypocrisy and sycophancy prevail, suggesting that such environments become so hollow and self-serving that they are beyond even diabolical manipulation.
Historical Symbolism
The devil has historically symbolized ultimate evil and deceit. Here, his 'departure for dinner' in the presence of flatterers is a hyperbolic reversal: flattery is depicted as a vice so potent and corrosive that it exceeds even the devil's appetite for iniquity, alluding to Renaissance and medieval anxieties about courtly sycophancy.
Literary and Cultural Resonance
This motif echoes in classical and Shakespearean literature, where flatterers are often portrayed as more dangerous than open enemies. For example, Shakespeare’s 'King Lear' and 'Julius Caesar' both warn against the destructive influence of sycophancy in political life.
Psychological Dimensions
The proverb exposes the psychological mechanism of flattery as mutual self-deception: a transaction in which both parties choose self-interest over honesty, undermining authentic relationships and creating environments where truth cannot thrive.
Rhetorical Devices
Personification
By attributing human behavior to the devil—having him 'go to dinner'—the proverb uses personification to dramatize the extremity of the flatterers’ insincerity.
Hyperbole
The proverb exaggerates to an absurd degree, suggesting that flattery can be so objectionable that even the devil avoids it, thereby amplifying its warning about the dangers of insincerity.
Irony
There is sharp irony in the implication that flatterers surpass even the devil in their ability to corrupt, inverting expectations about the hierarchy of vice.
Transcription
Quotations
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.