""every man has his price" is apparently a mis-quote of a remark by Robert Walpole, made in 1734, that "I know the price of every man in this house (i.e. the House of Commons) except three", although it is believed that the phrase was in common use before this time."
“Every man has his price. For some it's money, for some it's women, for others glory. But the honest man you don't have to buy - he winds up costing you nothing.” - Harold Robbins, The Carpetbaggers
Meaning:
Anyone's support can be bought if you throw enough money (or alternate
bargaining item) at the problem
Background:
An early reference can be found in William Coxe's Memoirs of Walpole written in
1798, which records Walpole (English Prime Minister) saying in 1745: "All those
men have their price".
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Walpole certainly didn't have Buddha in mind when he said that. British ruled
India from 1858 but it's not hard to imagine the ideas had reached the island much
earlier. Or maybe none took them seriously.
On a second thought, maybe I was not reading carefully as he said "those men"
referring to a certain crowd.
Soldiers understand nothing but war. Peace confuses them. - Troy, 2004
or every man has his price. said to mean that everyone can be persuaded to do something dishonest or immoral,
""every man has his price" is apparently a mis-quote of a remark by Robert Walpole, made in 1734, that "I know the price of every man in this house (i.e. the House of Commons) except three", although it is believed that the phrase was in common use before this time."
from: https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/2622/looking-for-a-quote-it-may-be-true-that-every-man-has-his-price-but-there-is-n
“Every man has his price. For some it's money, for some it's women, for others glory. But the honest man you don't have to buy - he winds up costing you nothing.”
- Harold Robbins, The Carpetbaggers
So you can delete my comments if they were not fit and I have no objections.
Sorry and Thanks.
Right, it depends on who and what and when. But "honesty is still the best policy" ;-)