Golden Rule

[Fred Shapiro]

On Tue, 18 May 1999, Kathleen Miller wrote:

> The earliest use of that phrase we have (note: our database isn't complete
> yet. It only goes back to the early 70's at the moment) is below. The
> phrase occurs in 8 other articles as well.
>
> September 30, 1981, CALIFORNIA PROPERTY TAX CUT STARTING TO HAVE BIG
>        EFFECT. By ROBERT LINDSEY, Special to the New York Times

The earliest citation I can readily find is in _Reviews in American
History_ 7: 89 (1979) ("Whoever has the gold, makes the rules").
Interestingly, this article attributes the phrase to the comic strip
Wizard of Id.

Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2