--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The devil, that old stager, who leads…" description: "\"The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way!\" — Robert Browning" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png" --- # The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps… ![“The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way!” quote by Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png) > “The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way!” [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The devil tempts and distracts, leading people astray while keeping them occupied with trivialities. **In simple terms:** Temptation distracts from true progress. Key Takeaway Beware of distractions that mask harmful influence. Themes tempttemptation deception leadership Mood cautious reflective Type advisory literary When to use this quote - Personal decision making - political analysis - media consumption Key Concepts Moral philosophy psychology literary metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What distractions are you allowing to guide your choices? - How can you discern genuine guidance from alluring but harmful influence? A Different Perspective Distractions can be subtle and hard to recognize. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [Devil Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil-old-3594659/) [Downward Fiddles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/downward-fiddles-3594658/) [Fiddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiddle/) [Fiddles Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiddles-way-3594661/) [Leads Downward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leads-downward-1618777/) [Old Stager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-stager-3594660/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Well, Page, I do wish the Devil had old Cooke, for I am sure I never was so tired of an old dull scoundrel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/well-page-i-do-wish-the-devil-had-old-cooke-for-i-am-sure-i-never-was/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The way by which you may get money almost without exception leads downward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-way-by-which-you-may-get-money-almost-without-exception-leads/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-ellington/music-is-my-mistress-and-she-plays-second-fiddle-to-no-one/) [Duke Ellington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-ellington/) > [He liked to think that Heaven was what each person wanted it to be. He could see no future in lying around on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmer-kelton/he-liked-to-think-that-heaven-was-what-each-person-wanted-it-to-be-he/) [Elmer Kelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmer-kelton/) > [“A leaf of all colors plays a golden-string fiddle To a double-e waterfall over my back”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/a-leaf-of-all-colors-plays-a-golden-string-fiddle-to-a-double-e/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [And I also think it's a violin when you're selling it and a fiddle when you're buying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-shires/and-i-also-think-it-s-a-violin-when-you-re-selling-it-and-a-fiddle/) [Amanda Shires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-shires/) > [A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/a-fiddler-on-the-roof-sounds-crazy-no-but-here-in-our-little-village/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [I've been hearing fiddle music since I was in the womb, I'm sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-macmaster/i-ve-been-hearing-fiddle-music-since-i-was-in-the-womb-i-m-sure/) [Natalie MacMaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-macmaster/) > [Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/greece-is-a-sort-of-american-vassal-the-netherlands-is-the-country-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Oh, I'm being eaten By a boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor, And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/oh-i-m-being-eaten-by-a-boa-constrictor-a-boa-constrictor-a-boa/) [Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/) > [When I was very young my mother sang to me at bedtime and my dad would often play the banjo or fiddle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-block/when-i-was-very-young-my-mother-sang-to-me-at-bedtime-and-my-dad/) [Rory Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-block/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Friends are like fiddle strings; they must not be screwed too tight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george-bohn/friends-are-like-fiddle-strings-they-must-not-be-screwed-too-tight/) [Henry George Bohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george-bohn/) > [The earth keeps some vibration going There in your heart, and that is you. And if the people find you can fiddle, why fiddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-lee-masters/the-earth-keeps-some-vibration-going-there-in-your-heart-and-that-is/) [Edgar Lee Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-lee-masters/) > [ In the house of a Fidler, all fiddle. \[In the house of the fiddler all fiddle.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/in-the-house-of-a-fidler-all-fiddle-in-the-house-of-the-fiddler-all/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) ## More by Robert Browning > [I would have rummaged, ransacked at the word; Those old odd corners of an empty heart; For remnants of dim love the long disused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-would-have-rummaged-ransacked-at-the-word-those-old-odd-corners-of/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/all-service-ranks-the-same-with-god-with-god-whose-puppets-best-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-was-ever-a-fighter-so-one-fight-more-the-best-and-the-last-i-would/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/if-you-get-simple-beauty-and-naught-else-you-get-about-the-best-thing/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The ultimate, angels' law, Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-ultimate-angels-law-indulging-every-instinct-of-the-soul-there/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/grow-old-along-with-me-the-best-is-yet-to-be-the-last-of-life-for/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Look not down but up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/look-not-down-but-up/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [What a thing friendship is - World without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/what-a-thing-friendship-is-world-without-end/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Explore all 386 Robert Browning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## 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": "The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-downward-perhaps-but-fiddles-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-downward-perhaps-but-fiddles-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa3/robert-browning-734_devil_the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-down_1200035.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The devil, that old stager, who leads downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way!” — Robert Browning", "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": "Robert Browning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The devil, that old stager, who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-downward-perhaps-but-fiddles-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-devil-that-old-stager-who-leads-downward-perhaps-but-fiddles-all/#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 } } ] } ```