Everyone looks out for his or her best interest. Originally this phrase expressed approval. It appeared in Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale (“Ech man for him-self, ther is non other”), implying that if one did not look out for oneself no one else would. It was included in John Hey- wood’s 1546 proverb collection (“Praie and shifts eche one for himselfs, as he can, every man for himselfs, and God for us all”). This latter turn of phrase (with “God for all”) occurs with minor variations in numerous lan- guages, including French, German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish. Slightly later versions changed God to the devil (see also DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST)—in print by 1574—and it is probably from this locution that the modern mean- ing of the cliché, describing not-so-admirable selfishness, is derived.
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