ProverbChallenge
English origin1560
English origin1560Where 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."
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- 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.
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