--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sold my soul to the devil / for nice…" description: "\"Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.\" — Dan Mangan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png" --- # Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I… ![“Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.” quote by Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png) > “Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.” [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A talent gained through a dubious bargain brings skill but also remorse as the cost outweighs the benefit. **In simple terms:** Skill bought at a price leads to regret. Key Takeaway Weigh long‑term consequences before shortcuts. Themes ambition art regret ethics Mood conflicted reflective Type cautionary artistic When to use this quote - career decisions - artistic choices - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts trade‑offs creative integrity Questions to Reflect On - What are you willing to sacrifice for talent? - Can skill ever be truly free? A Different Perspective The allure of quick talent can mask hidden costs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [My soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-soul/) [Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice/) [Nice Penmanship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice-penmanship-4051355/) [Penmanship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penmanship/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Sold Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sold-soul-257697/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Starting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starting/) [Starting Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starting-regret-482922/) [Write Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-real-364953/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I CAN SPEAK. I JUST LIKE TO SHOW OFF MY NICE PENMANSHIP.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-sheridan/i-can-speak-i-just-like-to-show-off-my-nice-penmanship/) [Mia Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-sheridan/) > [I have a tendency to go through my life at full speed and as a one-man band, and so I don't generally stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-anderson/i-have-a-tendency-to-go-through-my-life-at-full-speed-and-as-a-one/) [Gillian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-anderson/) > [I sold my soul to the devil. Lucifer will have my soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-the-creator-2/i-sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-lucifer-will-have-my-soul/) [Tyler, The Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-the-creator-2/) > [I sold my soul to the devil in L.A. He said 'sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs they all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-lewis/i-sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-in-l-a-he-said-sign-your-name-here-on-the/) [Aaron Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-lewis/) > [I had sold my soul for pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-collins/i-had-sold-my-soul-for-pleasure/) [Judy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-collins/) > [I have sold my soul. Just sign right here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakk-wylde/i-have-sold-my-soul-just-sign-right-here/) [Zakk Wylde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakk-wylde/) > [I sold my soul for the second time, cause' the man don't pay me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-gallagher/i-sold-my-soul-for-the-second-time-cause-the-man-don-t-pay-me/) [Noel Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-gallagher/) > [I sold my soul to rock 'n' roll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bette-midler/i-sold-my-soul-to-rock-n-roll/) [Bette Midler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bette-midler/) > [Sold my soul. Bought these devil chains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bette-midler/sold-my-soul-bought-these-devil-chains/) [Bette Midler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bette-midler/) > [I saw that bad handwriting should be regarded as a sign of an imperfect education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-saw-that-bad-handwriting-should-be-regarded-as-a-sign-of-an/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In an ideal world, the perfect biographical subject would have been the star of his penmanship class at grade school - and would thereafter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/in-an-ideal-world-the-perfect-biographical-subject-would-have-been/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [In the beginning of the 19th century, maybe forty percent of women and fifty percent of men could produce a signature, which meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/in-the-beginning-of-the-19th-century-maybe-forty-percent-of-women-and/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Most of my teachers wanted to send me to the principal's office. But my fourth-grade teacher once put her arms around me and said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-young/most-of-my-teachers-wanted-to-send-me-to-the-principal-s-office-but/) [Andrew Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-young/) > [“So brace yourself for the momentum. Because you’re about to be engulfed in a mental sphere of intrigue while being intellectually saturated in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-w-allison/so-brace-yourself-for-the-momentum-because-you-re-about-to-be/) [Calvin W. Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-w-allison/) > [A man's penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/a-man-s-penmanship-is-an-unfailing-index-of-his-character-moral-and/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) ## More by Dan Mangan > [There's when a phrase circles in my head in a number of ways for any number of days, weeks, or months, and then that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/there-s-when-a-phrase-circles-in-my-head-in-a-number-of-ways-for-any/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [When you put a halo on concepts - gender roles, religion, nationality or pride - or you put a halo on any topic -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/when-you-put-a-halo-on-concepts-gender-roles-religion-nationality-or/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [ What frustrated us about the song \[Robots\] was not that it existed - we owe a lot to that song and have had a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/what-frustrated-us-about-the-song-robots-was-not-that-it-existed-we/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [If the point of good art is to be somewhat subtle then it's not going to catch everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/if-the-point-of-good-art-is-to-be-somewhat-subtle-then-it-s-not-going/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [You feel the weight of the world and you take things in and you are acting out from a place of being pushed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/you-feel-the-weight-of-the-world-and-you-take-things-in-and-you-are/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I'm influenced in a million different ways by a million songs that I've heard and digested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/i-m-influenced-in-a-million-different-ways-by-a-million-songs-that-i/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I remember somebody saying, "I feel really bad for kids growing up around iPads right now. It's just too complicated. Life's too complicated." I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/i-remember-somebody-saying-i-feel-really-bad-for-kids-growing-up/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [More than anything, being an English major made me more appreciative of authors and what an incredible feat it is to just finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/more-than-anything-being-an-english-major-made-me-more-appreciative/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [If you make everything really on the nose so everyone knows exactly what you're talking about, it's often not as strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/if-you-make-everything-really-on-the-nose-so-everyone-knows-exactly/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I think the future and the past are equally hypothetical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/i-think-the-future-and-the-past-are-equally-hypothetical/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I feel like songwriting changed from something that I liked doing to something that, I feel, is a very important outlet for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/i-feel-like-songwriting-changed-from-something-that-i-liked-doing-to/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [It's not supposed to make you distracted from your life, it's supposed to make you challenge the ongoing distraction with focused intention. Simply discussing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/it-s-not-supposed-to-make-you-distracted-from-your-life-it-s-supposed/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [We talk about the past like it's the strangest dream. Then we repeat the things we never dreamed we'd do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/we-talk-about-the-past-like-it-s-the-strangest-dream-then-we-repeat/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [The most rewarding possible thing that a songwriter or an artist of any kind can experience is to hear firsthand from the mouth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/the-most-rewarding-possible-thing-that-a-songwriter-or-an-artist-of/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I grew up with a rotary phone in my house and that seems a world away, but that's what I was used to as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/i-grew-up-with-a-rotary-phone-in-my-house-and-that-seems-a-world-away/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) [Explore all 49 Dan Mangan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) ## More Devil quotes > [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/) [Michael Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arnold/) > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Beauty is not only a terrible thing, it is also a mysterious thing. There God and the Devil strive for mastery, and the battleground…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/beauty-is-not-only-a-terrible-thing-it-is-also-a-mysterious-thing/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. What we have left is the fight of faith, and it's a good fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-oyakhilome/the-devil-has-been-defeated-stop-trying-to-defeat-him-what-we-have/) [Chris Oyakhilome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-oyakhilome/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Whig far longer than he was a Republican. As a whole, the Whigs looked upon banks and corporations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/remember-that-abraham-lincoln-was-a-whig-far-longer-than-he-was-a/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [Wine is the first weapon that devils use in attacking the young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/wine-is-the-first-weapon-that-devils-use-in-attacking-the-young/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [“I tend to agree with that little devil more and more these days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-casey/i-tend-to-agree-with-that-little-devil-more-and-more-these-days/) [Elle Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-casey/) > [This is the gift of your species and this is the danger, because you do not choose to control your imaginings. You imagine wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/this-is-the-gift-of-your-species-and-this-is-the-danger-because-you/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/god-never-talks-but-the-devil-keeps-advertising-father-the-devil-does/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [If it was a sin for you to choose me . . . then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/if-it-was-a-sin-for-you-to-choose-me-then-i-would-go-to-the-devil/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Browse all 4,283 Devil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dan Mangan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penmanship-now-i-write-real-pretty/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penmanship-now-i-write-real-pretty/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/dan-mangan-13674_devil_sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penma_1267669.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.” — Dan Mangan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dan Mangan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sold my soul to the devil...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penmanship-now-i-write-real-pretty/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penmanship-now-i-write-real-pretty/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```