APAD: Finders keepers, losers weepers

Meaning:

He who finds a lost object can keep it, while the person who lost it is out of luck

 

[Here's a fascinating discussion of the background of this proverb.

https://www.bookbrowse.com/expressions/detail/index.cfm/expression_number/344/finders-keepers-losers-weepers]

 

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A salvage team's decade-long back-breaking toil uncovered the shipwreck of

two 17th-century Spanish galleons in the shallow waters west of the Florida

Keys. Carrying gold and silver from the New World, they succombed to a

hurricane. Mel Fisher, the mastermind behind the venture, after giving his best

years and losing a son and a daughter in-law to the cruel sea, triumphed.

 

But were the fabulous riches found his to keep? The U.S. government thought no:

"They are this nation's heritage and belong to the American public." Legal

battles ensued almost as soon as the treasure hunt showed an unmistakable

promise.

 

Another decade passed before Mel could declare victory. And here's what he said

in front of a display window in his museum, thronged with tourists agog like

children: "In the end, I don't even feel I own these beautiful things. I just

get to be here and show them to people for a while."