Where God hath His church the devil will have his chapel.
Meaning: Evil inevitably establishes itself wherever good flourishes, as opposing forces cannot coexist without mutual presence.
Origin: An old Protestant proverb that evil sets up next to good. Thomas Becon wrote in 1560 that wherever God builds a church, the devil will build a chapel just by, and Daniel Defoe put it into verse in The True-Born Englishman (1701): "Wherever God erects a house of prayer, / The Devil always builds a chapel there."
More proverbs about Challenge
- Claw me, and I will claw you. — Mutual aggression escalates reciprocally; treating others harshly invites equal retaliati…
- Every cock is proud on his own dunghill. — A person commands confidence and authority only within their familiar domain, losing that…
- A cold April a barn will fill. — Late spring frosts kill pests and prevent crop diseases, ensuring abundant harvests the f…
- In the coldest flint there is hot fire. — Even the hardest, most unyielding hearts harbor warmth and potential for compassion withi…
- It's an ill battle where the devil carries the colours. — When evil forces lead the fight, victory itself becomes a moral defeat for all sides invo…
- It's good to have company in trouble. — Shared hardship becomes more bearable through mutual support and the comfort of knowing y…
From our tongue twisters
- Pad kid poured curd pulled cod. — Alternating repetition — the consonants swap at the start of every other word, which is w…
- Ехал Грека через реку, видит Грека — в реке рак. (Yekhal Greka cherez reku, vidit Greka — v reke rak.) — A rolling 'r/k' drill where Greka, reku and rak keep trading the same two consonants.
- От топота копыт пыль по полю летит. (Ot topota kopyt pyl po polyu letit.) — A 'p/t' hammering that imitates the hoofbeats it describes.