if we had ham we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs

alternative if we had some ham we could have some ham and eggs, if we had some eggs

1. Draws attention to the futility of a plan or strategy in the absence of the resources necessary for it to work.

   "And if we had ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs," Esbeth grumped.

   2005, Russ Hall, No Murder Before Its Time, →ISBN, page 117

   3 more examples

   The situation reminds me of the statement that "if we had ham, we could have ham and eggs — if we had eggs" — but in a world in which there are no hens. In theory, truly secure systems are impossible.

   1997, United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Encryption, Key Recovery, and Privacy Protection in the Information Age, →ISBN, page 110

   This is the, 'If we had ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs' philosophy. . . . Delivering our cash to dictatorial and silly governments was bad, but even worse was delivering our big ideas about centralization, economic planning, and social justice to a country that had 120 university graduates at the time of independence.

   2006, Tracey J. Kinney, Conflict and Cooperation: Documents on Modern Global History

   This is the "if we had ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs" philosophy. Or as Nzezele put it as I was leaving Dar after having given him a large and not very well-earned tip, "When you get back to America, if you find that you have any extra money, could you send me a wristwatch?"

   2015, P.J. O'Rourke, Thrown Under the Omnibus, →ISBN