Cruelty is a devil's delight.
Meaning: Inflicting pain on others reveals and feeds one's capacity for evil rather than humanity.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Challenge
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- Evil communications corrupt good manners. — Surrounding yourself with corrupting influences gradually degrades your own moral charact…
- Fair faces need no paint. — Natural beauty requires no artificial enhancement; authenticity surpasses artificial ador…
- Ill gotten gains seldom prosper. — Money acquired through dishonesty typically brings misfortune or fails to provide lasting…
- Ill weeds grow apace. — Neglected problems and bad habits flourish faster than good ones require deliberate culti…
- Impudence is not courage. — Boldly speaking without thought or respect differs fundamentally from bravery rooted in c…
From our tongue twisters
- Stół z powyłamywanymi nogami. — Six words, almost no vowels — a single noun phrase that non-Polish speakers find impossib…
- 四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。(Sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí.) — A pure sì/shí tone drill — the two numbers are near-identical and the tones swap each tim…
- 吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。(Chī pútao bù tǔ pútao pí, bù chī pútao dào tǔ pútao pí.) — A 'pú/tǔ/pí' drill with reversing logic — the negations flip the meaning as the tongue tr…