on the side of the angels

Idioms  

1. Supporting the good side, as in Whatever you may think of him, on important issues he's usually on the side of the angels. This expression was coined by Benjamin Disraeli in 1864 in a speech about Darwin's theory that man is descended from apes: “The question is this: Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.” Before long it was extended to broader use, specifically to the moral view.

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Example Sentences

In this particular, however, he’s on the side of the angels.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2021

These learned societies are on the side of the angels, but there’s a problem: Research shows that dogs do, in fact, experience dominance.

From Washington Post • Aug. 12, 2021

She knows that not everyone who uses her tools is on the side of the angels, but she’s talked herself into a self-conception as a moral actor.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2020

“He always worked on the side of the angels and now he is with them,” Pelosi said.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2020

After all, there is something in the human heart, amid all its vileness, which ranges mankind on the side of the angels, not of the devils.

From The Life of Bret Harte With Some Account of the California Pioneers by Merwin, Henry Childs