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The meaning and origin of the expression: While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!

While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!'?

Tell the truth, even when tempted to lie.

What's the origin of the phrase 'While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!'?

The meaning and origin of the phrase 'While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!'The preacher Hugh Latimer recorded this as a 'common saying' as early as 1555, in his Twenty Seven Sermons:

"There is a common saying amongst vs, Say the truthe and shame the diuel."

Shakespeare also used the expression in Henry IV. Part I, 1597:

Hotspur:
And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil
By telling truth: tell truth and shame the devil.
If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,
And I'll be sworn I have power to shame him hence.
O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil!

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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