Selling one's soul
Meaning
To compromise one's deeply held moral or ethical principles in exchange for material wealth, power, or personal gain.
Origin
The concept of "selling one's soul" plunges into the deepest wells of human spirituality and folklore, tracing its roots back to ancient religious texts and myths. In Christian theology, the soul is considered eternal and the essence of a person, making its voluntary surrender a profound and catastrophic act. This idea gained immense traction and vivid form in medieval European legends, most famously with the tale of Faust, a scholar who bargains his soul to the demon Mephistopheles for limitless knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's story, popularized by Goethe, cemented the phrase into Western consciousness as the ultimate transaction of spiritual essence for temporal gain, a cautionary tale of ambition's perilous cost.
Examples
- He felt like he was selling his soul by taking a job that went against all his environmental convictions, but the pay was too good to refuse.
- Many believed the politician had sold his soul for a chance at the presidency, abandoning his former allies and principles along the way.