full text of the phrase/quote "stick with the devil you know"

Dear blackstone,

"Stick with the devil you know" is the abbreviated variation of "Stick
with the devil you know, rather than the devil you don't." This,
again, is a modified version of the original saying: "Better the devil
you know than the one you don't", which is a quote by the Elizabethan
English author, Richard Taverner. It's a proverb of Irish origin and
it first appeared a collection of sayings Taverner published in 1539.

Sources:
Wiseoldsayings.com
http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/wosdirectoryb.htm

The Invisible Man Fan Club, episode review with background information
http://imaniacs.org/reviews/tdyk.html

Search terms used:
"stick with the devil you know":
://www.google.com/search?q=%22stick+with+the+devil+you+know%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&start=30&sa=N
"stick with the devil you know rather":
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&q=%22stick+with+the+devil+you+know+rather%22&meta=
sayings dictionary: ://www.google.de/search?q=sayings+dictionary&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&start=10&sa=N
taverner "devil you know":
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&q=taverner+%22devil+you+know%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=

Hope this was what you were looking for!
Regards,
Scriptor

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Request for Answer Clarification by blackstone-ga on 14 Jun 2002 09:28 PDT

i thought there was a longer lead-in.....
like
"things might be bad, but they could be worse, so...."
(a paraphrase for sure)
thanks anyways....

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Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 14 Jun 2002 09:46 PDT

Dear blackstone,

I have done some extensive additional research, but though I have
found several variations of the saying - which differ not really much
from each other -, I could not locate any common version with longer
leading-in. Of course, introducing words have often been added to make
the phrase fit with a special situation, but there is no evidence that
a customary variant of the saying has an extended introduction.

Regards,
Scriptor

not what i wantedt to hear - but confirmed a dead end - thanks tp scriptor-ga