--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you could only speak the devil fair…" description: "\"“If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. Such strange lingering echoes of the old demon-worship might ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/george-eliot-84_devil_if-you-could-only-speak-the-devil-fair-e_494282.jpg" --- # If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might… ![“If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. Such strange lingering echoes of the old demon-worship might perhaps even now be caught by the diligent listener among the grey-haired peasantry; for the rude mind with difficulty associates the ideas of power…” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/george-eliot-84_devil_if-you-could-only-speak-the-devil-fair-e_494282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/george-eliot-84_devil_if-you-could-only-speak-the-devil-fair-e_494282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/george-eliot-84_devil_if-you-could-only-speak-the-devil-fair-e_494282.jpg) > ““If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. Such strange lingering echoes of the old demon-worship might perhaps even now be caught by the diligent listener among the grey-haired peasantry; for the rude mind with difficulty associates the ideas of power and benignity. A shadowy conception of power that by much persuasion can be induced to refrain from inflicting harm, is the shape most easily taken by the sense of the Invisible in the minds of men who have always been pressed close by primitive wants, and to whom a life of hard toil has never been illuminated by any enthusiastic religious faith. To them pain and mishap present a far wider range of possibilities than gladness and enjoyment: their imagination is almost barren of the images that feed desire and hope, but is all overgrown by recollections that are a perpetual pasture to fear.”” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power can be softened by persuasion, but those in hardship often lack hope and are driven by fear. **In simple terms:** Hardship breeds fear, limiting hope and power. Key Takeaway Cultivate hope to counter fear. Themes power hope fear poverty persuasion faith Mood somber analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - rural communities - poverty relief - social reform - mental health initiatives Key Concepts social dynamics psychology economic hardship Questions to Reflect On - What can restore hope in oppressed communities? - How does fear shape perceptions of power? A Different Perspective Hope can be fragile and may not easily replace entrenched fear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benignity Shadowy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benignity-shadowy-4222564/) [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [Power Benignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-benignity-2759576/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-faith/) [Rude Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude-mind-4222565/) [Speak Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-devil-506086/) ## Related quotes > [We are so vain as to set the highest value upon those things to which nature has assigned the lowest place. What can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/we-are-so-vain-as-to-set-the-highest-value-upon-those-things-to-which/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“Christmas has become a public affirmation of the power and benignity of the state, to which we all make obeisance in the sybolism of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/christmas-has-become-a-public-affirmation-of-the-power-and-benignity/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/speak-of-the-devil-and-the-devil-shall-appear/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [“Never mind speak of the devil — I couldn’t even think of him or he’d appear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/staci-hart/never-mind-speak-of-the-devil-i-couldn-t-even-think-of-him-or-he-d/) [Staci Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/staci-hart/) > [Speak of the Devil, look who just walked in. He knows just where to find me. here we go again, I can't let myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/speak-of-the-devil-look-who-just-walked-in-he-knows-just-where-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We speak from the devil inside our hearts. But sometimes when the flower can reach it. It will get softer again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whiteny-edelenbos/we-speak-from-the-devil-inside-our-hearts-but-sometimes-when-the/) [whiteny edelenbos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whiteny-edelenbos/) > [“We speak from the devil in side our hearts. But sometimes when the flower can reach it. It will get softer again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whiteny-edelenbos/we-speak-from-the-devil-in-side-our-hearts-but-sometimes-when-the/) [whiteny edelenbos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whiteny-edelenbos/) > [Speak of the devil and he appears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italian-proverb/speak-of-the-devil-and-he-appears/) [Italian Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italian-proverb/) > [“For continual suffering had annihilated religious faith within me: to the utterly miserable –the unloving and the unloved –there is no religion possible, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/for-continual-suffering-had-annihilated-religious-faith-within-me-to/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“He suspected the Archdeacon of not having read them; he was in painful doubt as to what was really thought of them by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/he-suspected-the-archdeacon-of-not-having-read-them-he-was-in-painful/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“In your darkest times, never be afraid. The Lord's presence is always with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/in-your-darkest-times-never-be-afraid-the-lord-s-presence-is-always/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Once you let them establish their ideology in you, they will drive you crazy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-let-them-establish-their-ideology-in-you-they-will-drive-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Treat your husband like a king... you are the pray-er; Jesus is the answered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-malz/treat-your-husband-like-a-king-you-are-the-pray-er-jesus-is-the/) [Betty Malz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-malz/) > [“Richard Dawkins regards faith as an evil to be eliminated; he takes all religious faith to be blind faith. (Dawkins says) ‘Scientific belief is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennox/richard-dawkins-regards-faith-as-an-evil-to-be-eliminated-he-takes/) [John Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennox/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## 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": "“If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. 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