The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be; The devil was well, the devil a monk was he.
 François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel (1534). copy citation

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Author François Rabelais
Source Gargantua and Pantagruel
Topic devil monk
Date 1534
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Antony Motteux
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1200/1200-h/1200-h.htm

Context

“Here is a rare rogue for you, said Eusthenes; here is a pure rogue, a rogue in grain, a rogue enough, a rogue and a half. He is resolved to make good the Lombardic proverb, Passato el pericolo, gabbato el santo.
The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be; The devil was well, the devil a monk was he.
Chapter 4. XXV.—How, after the storm, Pantagruel went on shore in the islands of the Macreons.
Immediately after we went ashore at the port of an island which they called the island of the Macreons.” source

Meaning and analysis

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