A: "Why don't you just quit your job if you're so miserable?" B: "Who knows if a new job will be any better! Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know."

proverb When faced with two options, it is better to choose the more familiar one, even if it is undesirable. A: "Why don't you just quit your job if you're so miserable?" B: "Who knows if a new job will be any better! Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know."

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.

Prov. If you have to choose between a familiar but unpleasant situation and an unfamiliar situation, choose the familiar one because the unfamiliar situation may turn out to be worse. Jill: I hate my job so much that I'm thinking of asking for a transfer. Jane: I'd advise against it. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know. Although she was unhappy in her marriage, Donna never considered pursuing romances with other men. "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know," was her philosophy.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.