"Known devil is better then unknown angel"

Posted by Antiquary on April 19, 2006

In Reply to: "Known devil is better then unknown angel" posted by Vijay M. on April 19, 2006

: "Known devil is better then unknown angel"

I haven't come across precisely this phrase before. A little Googling suggests that it's mainly used in south Asia. It looks like it could be a variant of the common English proverb 'Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know', which goes back at least as far as Anthony Trollope's novel "Barchester Towers" , described there as 'an old saying'.

• "Known devil is better then unknown angel" ESC 20/April/06