proverb · Words worth keeping
Give the devil his due.
Give the devil his due.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Acknowledge a person’s genuine merit even when you dislike or oppose them. Fair assessment does not require approving everything they have done or overlooking a serious wrong.
Example
A committee accepts that a critic identified a real scheduling problem, while still challenging the critic’s unfair comments about the people involved.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The devil supplies the strongest imagined opponent, making the demand for fairness deliberately striking. Due means what is deserved in the particular judgement, such as credit for a sound point or a useful action. The phrase does not require literal belief in the figure or claim anything about its origin. Acknowledging one merit is different from declaring the whole person admirable. The useful lesson is to separate the claim being assessed from general hostility, while keeping relevant wrongdoing in view. An opponent can be correct on a point without their position becoming correct in every other respect.
When to use it
Use it when dislike is preventing acknowledgement of a genuine point or contribution.
Keep in mind
Credit for one thing does not excuse harm or require admiration, trust or agreement overall.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English