One man’s – or woman’s – trash is another’s treasure...

THE TRASH TO TREASURE RULE: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”         A popular proverbial saying in America since the late 20th century. Its basic meaning is that something which seems worthless to one person is often deemed valuable by another. This modern proverb is, of course, a variation of the much older English proverb “One man's meat is another man's poison,” which dates back to sometime before 1709, when it was recorded by language scholar Oswald Dykes in his book English Proverbs.

THE TRASHY MEN RULE: “One woman’s trash is another woman’s boyfriend.”          Laura Ruby         American novelist        Quip made by a character in Ruby’s novel I’m Not Julia Roberts (2007)

THE TRAMP STAMP VARIATION: “One woman’s tramp stamp is another woman’s declaration of undying love — until she dumps the lying SOB and is stuck with his name forever.”          Alexis Munier        American-born writer currently living in Switzerland        From her entry about the term “tramp stamp” in The Little Red Book of Very Dirty Words (2009)

THE FAMOUS COHEN V. CALIFORNIA FREE SPEECH DECISION: “One man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric.”        U.S. Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan II (1899-1971)        In majority opinion he wrote for the Supreme Court’s decision on Cohen v. California (1971)        The case involved an anti-Vietnam War activist named Paul Cohen, who had been convicted of “offensive conduct” and sentenced to 30 days in jail for publicly wearing a jacket that had “FUCK THE DRAFT” printed on it. The Court reversed Cohen’s conviction, finding that it violated his Constitutional right to free speech under the First Amendment.

THE OGDEN NASH QUIP: “One man’s remorse is another man’s reminiscence.”               Ogden Nash (1902-1971)         American poet and humorist         From his poem “A Clean Conscience Never Relaxes” (1936), included in his book I’m a Stranger Here Myself (1938)

THE BOOB JOB QUIP: “One woman’s self-objectifying excess is another woman’s décolletage.”        Ann Scales (1952-2012)        American law professor and author         In her book Legal Feminism (2006)

THE CHARLIE SHEEN SPIT JOB QUIP: “One man’s saliva is another man’s mousse.”        Charlie Sheen, as the character Charlie Harper        In an episode of his former TV series Two and a Half Men (“Can You Eat Human Flesh with Wooden Teeth?”, first aired February 14, 2005)

NICK MANCUSO’S OBSERVATION ABOUT RELIGION: “One man’s superstition is another man’s religion!”          Nick Mancuso, as the Indian police officer Youngman Duran         One of his lines in the batty horror movie Nightwing (1979)

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“Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

LINCOLN’S FAMOUS QUOTE AND ITS INSPIRATION: “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”        President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)         The closing words of his Gettysburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863 (as recorded in the “Hay Copy” of the speech stored at the Library of Congress, one of five written versions)        As noted in The Quote Verifier and other sources, Lincoln’s phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” is the best known use of the of/by/for the people formula, but Lincoln probably adapted his version from a similar phrase used in the 1850s by abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker. During the early months of the Civil War, Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon gave the president a book of Parker’s sermons and speeches. It included a sermon titled “The Effect of Slavery on the American People,” which Parker delivered at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts on July 4, 1858. In that sermon, Parker said: “Democracy is direct self-government over all the people, for all the people, by all the people.” According to Herndon, Lincoln marked those words in his copy before he wrote the Gettysburg Address. Parker had used a similar line in earlier sermons and speeches. For example, in a speech he gave in Boston on May 29, 1850, Parker defined democracy as “a government of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people.” However, the of/for/by the people formulation was not coined by Parker. Some older uses — and some later variations — are shown below.

DANIEL WEBSTER’S PRECURSOR: “It is, Sir, the people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. The people of the United States have declared that this Constitution shall be the supreme law.”        Daniel Webster (1782-1852)        American lawyer, politician, orator and statesman        Discussing the limitations of state’s rights and the supremacy of federal law in his “Second Speech on Foote’s Resolution” in the U.S. Senate, on January 26, 1830.

AN IRONIC VARIATION BY LINCOLN’S DEBATE FOE: “In my opinion this government of ours is founded on the white basis. It was made by the white man, for the benefit of the white man, to be administered by white men, in such a manner as they should determine.”        Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861)        American Democratic politician; Congressman for Illinois from 1843 to 1847        A line used, ironically, in one of his famed debates with Lincoln, on July 9, 1858 in Chicago

OSCAR WILDE’S QUIP: “All modes of government are failures. Despotism is unjust to everybody...Oligarchies are unjust to the many, and ochlocracies are unjust to the few. High hopes were once formed of democracy; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.”        Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)        Irish writer, poet and wit        In his essay “The Soul of Man under Socialism,” first published in the Fortnightly Review, February 1891

CHRISTOPHER MORLEY’S VERSION: “America is still a government of the naive, for the naive, and by the naive. He who does not know this, nor relish it, has no inkling of the nature of his country.”        Christopher Morley (1890-1957)        American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet        In his book Inward Ho! (1923)

LORD BUCKLEY’S HIPSTER VERSION: “We here want it stuck up straight for all to dig that these departed studs shall not have split in vain; that this nation, under the great swingin’ Nazz, shall ring up a whopper of endless Mardi Gras, and that the Big Law of you straights, by you studs, and for you kitties, shall not be scratched from the big race.”        Lord Buckley (1906-1960)        American entertainer known for telling stories using the hipster slang of black jazz musicians and beatniks         The quote above is from Lord Buckley’s “hipster version” of the Gettysburg Address

BILL CLINTON’S GAFFE: “The last time I checked, the Constitution said ‘of the people, by the people and for the people.’  That’s what the Declaration of Independence says.”         Bill Clinton         Comment made in remarks attacking conservative Republicans for being unreasonably anti-government, after his Second Presidential Debate with Sen. Robert Dole in October 1996. The statement generated news and snickers in the following weeks because Clinton was astoundingly wrong about the source. It comes from the Gettysburg Address and does not appear in either the U.S. Constitution or Declaration of Independence. Time magazine listed this Clinton quote as one of the “most embarrassing historical gaffes” of 1996.

       

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“Hearts and minds” – from the Bible to Vietnam to the Middle East…

THE FAMOUS BIBLICAL QUOTE: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.”         St. Paul         A famous line from his Epistle to the Philippians, c. 62 A.D.          This Biblical verse from Philippians 4:7 helped popularize two famous phrases: “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” and “hearts and minds.”

JOHN ADAMS’ REVOLUTIONARY WAR QUOTE: “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations...This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.”          John Adams         Second President of the United States        From a letter he wrote to Hezekiah Niles, February 13, 1818

LBJ’S VIETNAM WAR QUOTE: “We must be ready to fight in Vietnam, but the ultimate victory will depend upon the hearts and the minds of the people who actually live out there.”        Lyndon Baines Johnson        36th President of the United States        His famous (and infamous) “Hearts and Minds” speech (May 4, 1965)

THE GREEN BERETS’ VIETNAM WAR COUNTERQUOTE: “If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”         U.S. Green Berets slogan during the Vietnam War

AN IRAQ WAR VARIATION: “What have you done to win Iraqi hearts and minds today?.”         Headline on posters that US General David Petraeus ordered to be posted in American military facilities in Iraq in 2003. The line reflected policies in the “Counterinsurgency Manual” he wrote, which were supposed to help to gain Iraqi support for the continued US presence in their country and to reduce attacks on US troops by “insurgents.”

AN AFGHANISTAN WAR VARIATION: “[General] Petraeus’s counterinsurgency manual, with all its talk of winning hearts and minds, is pure Vietnam.”         Jonathan Schell (1924-2014)                American columnist and author         In a 2009 commentary in The Nation about the “counterinsurgency” policies created by Gen. Petraeus, which were then being applied in Afghanistan.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S QUOTE ABOUT ISLAMIC EXTREMISM: “We know that military force alone cannot solve this problem…Our campaign to prevent people around the world from being radicalized to violence is ultimately a battle for hearts and minds.”        Barack Obama        44th President of the United States        In an op-ed he wrote about the recent wave of killings by Islamic extremists, fist published in the L.A. Times on February 17, 2015

A RESPONSE TO OBAMA'S QUOTE: “Anytime I see the ‘win their hearts and minds’ as the key driver of our warfare strategy I know we’re screwed.”         Reader comment posted on a PoliticalHotwire.com thread titled “Obama administration solution to stop ISIS...get them jobs!”

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When the going gets tough, the quotes get weirder…

THE LEGENDARY SAYING: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”        Widely attributed to Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969)        American businessman and patriarch of the Kennedy clan        Thousands of books and websites attribute this quote to Kennedy, though without any specific source. It has also been attributed to various other celebrities, such as football coach Vince Lombardi. My guess is that it’s a modern proverbial saying with no specific origin.

THE PANTLESS TOUGH GUY APPLICATION: “WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH TAKE OFF THEIR PANTS.”        Caption used for the photo at left when it was posted on the Feb. 2, 2015 “Day in Pictures” feature on the San Francisco Chronicle website. The rest of the caption explained: “A competitor runs through a puddle in the ‘Tough Guy’ adventure race near Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, West Midlands. The event challenges thousands of tough guys to run through a grueling 200 obstacles, including water, fire and tunnels after a lengthy run at the start.”           (Photo: Oli Scarff, AFP/Getty Images)

THE UNREAL BLONDES VERSION: “When Times Get Tough, the Tough Go Shopping.”        The Real Housewives of Orange County “reality” show        Episode title, Season 5, Episode 1 (First aired November 5, 2009)

THE GONZO VERSION: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”        Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)        American “gonzo” journalist        In his book Kingdom of Fear (2003)

LASORDA’S VARIATION: “When the going gets easy, watch out! You may be going downhill.”        Tommy Lasorda (b. 1927)        American baseball pitcher and manager        In the book Life Lessons from Little League Revisited (2005) by Vincent Fortanasce & Tommy Lasorda

ANIMAL POLITICS VARIATION: “When the waterhole gets smaller, the animals get meaner.”         African proverb

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“The customer is always right” … or maybe not.

THE FAMED BUSINESS MOTTO: “The customer is always right.”         Harry Gordon Selfridge (1857-1947)        US-born British businessman and founder of the Selfridges store chain         This famous business motto is traditionally attributed to Selfridge and was popularized by him. However, as noted by the great Phrase Finder site and other sources, Selfridge may have shoplifted the saying from American department store magnate Marshall Field, who Selfridge worked for as a young man.

PETER’S RULE: “Peter’s Salesmanship Rule: The customer is always ripe.”        Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)        Canadian educator and author best known as the creator of “The Peter Principle”         His wry version of the famed business motto, in his book Peter's Almanac (1982)

DOGBERT’S RULES: “There are two essential rules of management.   One: the customer is always right.   Two: they must be punished for their arrogance.”        Dogbert         A variation once posited by the hilariously evil canine cartoon character in Scott Adams’ Dilbert comic strips.

LE VERSION FRANCAISE: “France...a country where shop-owners seem to be guided by the credo that the customer is always, incontrovertibly wrong.”         Ruadhán Mac Cormaic        Irish journalist        In his column in The Irish Times, March 1, 2010

THE SALES CLERKS' COUNTERQUOTE: "Whoever said 'the customer is always right' clearly never worked with the public a day in their life."        A "Rottenecard" that most current and former employees of any type of retail outlet can relate to.

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