View source for The devil is in the details

{{Short description|Idiom about hidden complications}}
"'''The devil is in the details'''" is an [[idiom]] alluding to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details;<ref name="Titelman">{{cite book |last=Titelman |first=Gregory |title=Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings |publisher=Random House Reference |date=1996 |isbn=0-679-44554-4 |page=119 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679445548/page/118/mode/2up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref> it indicates that "something may seem simple, but in fact the details are complicated and likely to cause problems".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/the-devil-is-in-the-detail |title=The devil is in the detail |work=Macmillan Dictionary |accessdate=11 February 2022}}</ref> It comes from the earlier phrase "'''God is in the details'''", expressing the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; that is, details are important.<ref name="Titelman"/>
==Origin==
The idiom "God is in the details" has been attributed to a number of people, most notably to the German-born architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] (1886–1969) by ''[[The New York Times]]'' in Mies's 1969 obituary; however, it is generally accepted not to have originated with him. A German version, ''Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail'', is widely attributed to the German art historian [[Aby Warburg]] (1866–1929).  According to Christopher Johnson, ''Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail'' was the subtitle of a seminar Warburg taught at the [[University of Hamburg]] in the winter of 1925-26.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/memorymetaphorab00john/page/44/mode/2up |page=45 |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8014-7742-3 |first=Christopher D. |last=Johnson |title=Memory, Metaphor, and Aby Warburg's Atlas of Images |quote=The seminar 'Die Bedeutung der Antike für den stilistischen Wandel in der italienischen Kunst der Frührenaissance,' WIA, III.95.1, given at the University of Hamburg in the winter semester of 1925-26, was subtitled 'Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail.'}}   The abbreviation 'WIA' refers to unpublished material held at the Warburg Institute Archive.</ref> A French version of the saying, "''Le bon Dieu est dans le détail"'' (literally "the good God is in the detail") is generally attributed to [[Gustave Flaubert]] (1821–1880).<ref name="Titelman"/>
The expression "the devil is in the details" is found in a 1963 history of post-war European integration.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Community of Europe |page=92 |year=1963 |quote=...on the principle that 'the devil is in the details', what should have been a merely formal occasion developed into a debate...|url=https://archive.org/details/communityofeurop00mayn/page/92/mode/2up |first=Richard |last=Mayne |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York}}</ref>  It is later attested in 1965.<ref>''Newsweek''. Vol. 65, no. 1. Newsweek Inc. 1965. p. 173.</ref> In 1969, it is referred to as an existing proverb.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_2ACAQAAMAAJ |title=Electrical Safety: Portable Tools and Mobile Appliances; Proceedings of a Symposium |publisher=International Labour Office |date=1969 |page=102}}</ref> ''[[Bartlett's Familiar Quotations]]'' lists the saying's author as anonymous.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bartlett |first=John |title=Bartlett's Familiar Quotations |edition=17th |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |date=November 2002}}</ref>
An editorial in the 1989 New York Times reflected on the apparent interchangeability of God and the Devil in the phrase, citing various examples in print at the time; as well as the difficulty of determining which came first and how long either one has been in use.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Safire|first=William|date=30 July 1989 |title=On Language; Who's in Those Details? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/30/magazine/on-language-who-s-in-those-details.html |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Variants==
The phrase has several variants: ''(the/a) Devil (is) in the detail(s)''. The original expression as, "God is in the detail" with the word ''detail'' being singular, colloquial usage often ends the idiom as ''details'' plural; where the word ''detail'' without an ''s'' can be used as both a singular and collective noun.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/detail |title= Detail |publisher= Dictionary.com |access-date= 2012-07-15}}</ref>
When referring to the finer points of legislation, the former US House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] observed, "The devil and the angels are in the details."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.livemint.com/news/world/us-increases-fiscal-stimulus-offer-to-1-8-trillion-to-fight-covid-19-report-11602260810732.html |title= US increases fiscal-stimulus offer to $1.8 trillion to fight COVID-19: Report |date= 9 October 2020 | publisher= mint.com |access-date= 2020-10-10}}</ref>
More recently, the expressions "governing is in the details" and "the truth, if it exists, is in the details" have appeared.<ref name="Titelman"/>
==References==
{{wiktionary|devil is in the details|God is in the detail}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Ludwig Mies van der Rohe}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil Is In The Details}}
[[Category:English proverbs]]
[[Category:English-language idioms]]
[[Category:English phrases]]
[[Category:Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]]