soldier see also the FIRST duty of a soldier is obedience; OLD soldiers never die.If you’re not part of the SOLUTION, you’re part of the problemCleaver’s formulation (see 1968) is the one that has passed into currency, but the idea is
found earlier: 1943 Nea Bulletin Dec. 621 (heading) Are we part of the problem or of the
answer?
1968 E. CLEAVER Speech in R. Scheer, Eldridge Cleaver (1969) 32 What we’re
saying today is that you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem. 1975
M. BRADBURY History Man v. ‘If you’re not the solution,’ says Peter Madden, ‘you’re
part of the problem.’ ‘It would be terribly arrogant of me to believe I was the solution to
anything.’ 1977 C. MCFADDEN Serial xxvi. Listen, don’t you realize if you’re not part
of the solution you’re part of the problem. 2001 New Scientist 24 Nov. 112 MTV used to
broadcast environmental messages featuring the punchline ‘if you’re not part of the
solution, you’re part of the problem’. Indeed. assistance; troublesome see you WIN a few, you lose a few.You don’t get SOMETHING for nothingA variant of this, originally from the north country, runs you don’t get owt [anything] for
nowt [nothing]. Cf. 1845 DISRAELI Sybil I. I. v. To do nothing and get something formed a
boy’s ideal of a manly career.
1870 P. T. BARNUM Struggles & Triumphs viii. When people expect to get
‘something for nothing’ they are sure to be cheated. 1947 M. PENN Manchester Fourteen
Miles xiii. No stranger, she declared emphatically, ever sent to another stranger ‘summat
for nowt’. It would.. be against nature. 1952 F. PRATT Double Jeopardy i. You don’t get
something for nothing, even in medicine. Perizone has a peculiar secondary effect. It
releases all inhibitions. 1979 Guardian 18 June 10 Stravinsky and Auden.. [are] saying
‘You don’t get something for nothing.’ If you want the lovely things.. you can’t have
them unless you’re prepared to pay for them. 1979 Church Times 29 June 13 You don’t
get owt for nowt. reciprocitySOMETHING is better than nothing