"Talk of the devil, and his horns appear"
About this Quote
A proverb like this works because it turns coincidence into theater. You mention someone - usually the person you least want to summon - and suddenly they show up. Coleridge’s tweak, “and his horns appear,” sharpens the old English saying (“Speak of the devil...”) into a miniature scene: the door swings open, the lighting shifts, the moral temperature drops. It’s not just that the person arrives; it’s that they arrive branded, instantly legible as trouble.
As a Romantic poet, Coleridge was fascinated by how the mind animates the world, how language can feel like an incantation. The line rides that superstition without fully endorsing it. Its intent is social as much as metaphysical: a warning about the risks of talk. Gossip becomes a kind of conjuring; speech has consequences, and not only because the subject might overhear. The “devil” can be an actual antagonist, but it’s also a mask we slap on people we’re criticizing - a label that flatters the speaker’s righteousness. The horns are the punchline and the tell: we’re not neutral observers; we’re already casting someone as a villain.
Context matters here. Coleridge wrote in a culture still steeped in Christian imagery and folk belief, while also participating in an era beginning to prize skepticism and psychology. The phrase sits at that crossroads. It’s witty shorthand for bad timing, but it also hints at something darker: the way communities create devils, then act surprised when those devils walk into the room.
As a Romantic poet, Coleridge was fascinated by how the mind animates the world, how language can feel like an incantation. The line rides that superstition without fully endorsing it. Its intent is social as much as metaphysical: a warning about the risks of talk. Gossip becomes a kind of conjuring; speech has consequences, and not only because the subject might overhear. The “devil” can be an actual antagonist, but it’s also a mask we slap on people we’re criticizing - a label that flatters the speaker’s righteousness. The horns are the punchline and the tell: we’re not neutral observers; we’re already casting someone as a villain.
Context matters here. Coleridge wrote in a culture still steeped in Christian imagery and folk belief, while also participating in an era beginning to prize skepticism and psychology. The phrase sits at that crossroads. It’s witty shorthand for bad timing, but it also hints at something darker: the way communities create devils, then act surprised when those devils walk into the room.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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