Give the devil his due.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

Acknowledge a person’s genuine merit even when you dislike or oppose them. Fair assessment does not require approving everything they have done or overlooking a serious wrong.

What the words are saying

The devil supplies the strongest imagined opponent, making the demand for fairness deliberately striking. Due means what is deserved in the particular judgement, such as credit for a sound point or a useful action. The phrase does not require literal belief in the figure or claim anything about its origin. Acknowledging one merit is different from declaring the whole person admirable. The useful lesson is to separate the claim being assessed from general hostility, while keeping relevant wrongdoing in view. An opponent can be correct on a point without their position becoming correct in every other respect.

Everyday example

A committee accepts that a critic identified a real scheduling problem, while still challenging the critic’s unfair comments about the people involved.

When to use it

Use it when dislike is preventing acknowledgement of a genuine point or contribution.

Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.