trust everybody, but cut the cards

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1. One should have general faith in the good intentions of others, but one should never neglect to take appropriate precautions against being deceived or cheated.

   I was often reminded of Mr. Dooley's famous admonition to “Trust everybody, but cut the cards.” We did “cut the cards” by installing a fake camera high on one wall and pointed at the cash register.

   2013, William C. Prentiss, One Man In His Time: A Memoir, →ISBN, page 413

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   A deep-dyed fatalist, sentimental yet cynical—"Trust everybody," he is fond of saying, "but cut the cards"—his running history of his Chicago tribe is a struggle of clan and family survival, with little help from outsiders.

   1997, Donald L. Miller, City of the Century, →ISBN, page 526

   It's a version of President Ronald Reagen's famous statements “trust but verify” and “trust everybody, but cut the cards.” We the public are tired of being duped, and we are now ready to hold companies responsible and accountable.

   2014, Robert C. Chandler, Business and Corporate Integrity, →ISBN, page xxiv