English · Proverb Candidate

young saint, old devil. (15th century)

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

People often behave better when young and worsen with age

Literally: a young saint and an old devil

Examples

He was a model student, but now they say he's a perfect example of a young saint, old devil

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Devils & ghosts

Common questions

What does “young saint, old devil. (15th century)” mean?

People often behave better when young and worsen with age Literally: a young saint and an old devil

Is “young saint, old devil. (15th century)” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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