And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

Is this so funny, after all, including doomsday, darling?

From the poem Devil's Walk (original title, Devil's Thoughts); written jointly by Coleridge and Southey.
VI stanza

VI
He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,
A cottage of gentility;
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
Is pride that apes humility.

Here the total poem.

I
From his brimstone bed at break of day
A walking the Devil is gone,
To visit his snug little farm the earth,
And see how his stock goes on.

II
Over the hill and over the dale,
And he went over the plain,
And backward and forward he switched his long tail
As a gentleman switches his cane.

III
And how then was the Devil drest?
Oh! he was in his Sunday's best:
His jacket was red and his breeches were blue,
And there was a hole where the tail came through.

IV
He saw a Lawyer killing a Viper
On a dunghill hard by his own stable;
And the Devil smiled, for it put him in mind
Of Cain and his brother, Abel.

V
He saw an Apothecary on a white horse
Ride by on his vocations,
And the Devil thought of his old Friend
Death in the Revelations.

VI
He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,
A cottage of gentility;
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
Is pride that apes humility.

VII
He peep'd into a rich bookseller's shop,
Quoth he! we are both of one college!
For I sate myself, like a cormorant, once
Hard by the tree of knowledge.

VIII
Down the river did glide, with wind and tide,
A pig with vast celerity;
And the Devil look'd wise as he saw how the while,
It cut its own throat. 'There!' quoth he with a smile,
'Goes "England's commercial prosperity."'

IX
As he went through Cold-Bath Fields he saw
A solitary cell;
And the Devil was pleased, for it gave him a hint
For improving his prisons in Hell.

X
He saw a Turnkey in a trice
Fetter a troublesome blade;
'Nimbly,' quoth he, 'do the fingers move
If a man be but used to his trade.'

XI
He saw the same Turnkey unfetter a man,
&nbspWith but little expedition,
Which put him in mind of the long debate
On the Slave-trade abolition.

XII
He saw an old acquaintance
As he passed by a Methodist meeting;—
She holds a consecrated key,
And the devil nods her a greeting.

XIII
She turned up her nose, and said,
'Avaunt! my name's Religion,'
And she looked to Mr. ——
And leered like a love-sick pigeon.

XIV
He saw a certain minister
(A minister to his mind)
Go up into a certain House,
With a majority behind.

XV
The Devil quoted Genesis
Like a very learnéd clerk,
How 'Noah and his creeping things
Went up into the Ark.'

XVI
He took from the poor,
And he gave to the rich,
And he shook hands with a Scotchman,
For he was not afraid of the ——

XVII
General —— burning face
He saw with consternation,
And back to hell his way did he take,
For the Devil thought by a slight mistake
It was general conflagration


From The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Vol I

Wonderfully said a sinner is always proud of his sins but his life usually turns into hell

The first and most fundamental issue of sin is pride.
Harold Warner

Pride and conceit were the original sins of man.
Alain Rene Le Sage

I think I used to practice this grin as a young man. I've always had a problem with the sin of pride. Perhaps being overly prideful could be deemed as a negative but children grow up their whole lives being told to be proud of their accomplishments and in the back of their head, if they go to church, they are told that this is a sin. I think the true "sin" here is deceit.

Both need to grow up.

So true! Some AA bosses are deceitfully humble..., and their underlings overtly send you "blessings" as if they were "gods"...

Yes Omar M there are a lot of wolves lurking about in cheap, sheep coats.

And just who was/is the devil, republicans in the American congress????