I thought that was from Hamlet!  Polonius's advice to Laertes, no?

Yes, here it is, thank you google:

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.*William
Shakespeare<http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/William_Shakespeare/>
*, *"Hamlet", Act 1 scene 3*
But you're right, it does apply well to vanagons!  (requisite vanagon
content  ;-)

Joy

On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 11:34 PM, David Clarkson <Dvdclarksn@aol.com> wrote:

> Was it Ben Franklin that said, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be"? Sure
> you can camp with me in my van at the festival or in my driveway if we are
> out
> of beds and floor space but please don't ask me to borrow my child I mean
> my
> van. My wife does drive it very carefully and appreciates it almost as much
> as
> I  appreciate matrimonial harmony.
>
> David
>
>
> In a message dated 3/2/2009 6:36:51 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> jack007@COMCAST.NET writes:
>
> Never...  I don't even let my wife drive it, and always self park... never
> letting a  valet park it!
> My wife of 30 years, wants to make sure we have another 30  years, and
> doesn't even ask to drive it... she is very content to read and  take a nap
> in back while I drive.
>
> When we purchased our 84 Westy in  1987, my brother-in-law wanted to borrow
> it, and I told my wife then that  we will never lend it out to anyone.
> Heck, would you lend one of your  children out??? Esp. if they are
> temperamental!?!?
>
> -----Original  Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]  On Behalf
> Of
> Poppie Jagersand
> Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 1:04  PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Lend the bus; who to say yes  or no to?
>
> Hi,
>
> A bit related to the spring break story, but a  more general question
> is who would you lend your VW bus, Vanagon or Westy  to?
>
> After having both some good and less god experiences
> (luckily  not catastrophic), I have developed the following
> philosophy:
>
> * I'll  lend the bus only to someone who both will value it as
> much as I do, and  who is sufficiently technically capable.
>
> * The best way to become  comfortable that a person fulfils the
> above two criteria is to work  alongside that person on my or
> another similar bus.
>
> Some example  case stories that lead me to develop this principle:
>
> When I was a  student and postdoc, I made many of the parts needed
> for repair (e.g. fix  and resurface Diesel vacuum pump instead of
> buying new) and for my 1.9TD  engine swap. I used the student machine
> shop, and often there would be  other students helping me.
>
> After working with someone for a while it is  very easy to tell both
> how much they value my bus (at times buses), and if  they were
> technically adept or not. When asking to borrow the bus, some  got
> the bus, others go my $250 Passat B2 TD (Quantum). (The Passat
> was  originally intended to be a TD donor to my bus, but ran well
> enough after  some fixup in used car lot that it was the daily driver
> for both me and  several other students.)
>
> Before college, at my parents, it was by no  way a given that I
> or my sisters got to borrow my parents' car. My dad had  me do
> minor chores on the car whenever I wanted to use it.
>
> In  college a friend's family had a nice wooden sailboat that
> we youngsters  occasionally got to take for a sailing trip.
> However, we'd always take part  in the maintenance chores.
> At first I though it a bit unusual (as a  teenager) to be invited
> over to their cottage for sanding and varnishing,  but now I
> appreciate that I learned how to prepare and varnish mahogany  as
> well as my friend's grandfather.
>
> So in summary, the personal  value of my bus (and other belongings)
> go up the more I learn about, work  on it and longer I keep it.
> Best way to find out if someone else is able to  share this is
> to have them work along with you.
>
> Some people will  already be like you, some will eventually get it, but
> many will never get  past the initial impression that it is a 25 year
> old bus, and though they  may compliment it in words, it is with the
> reference frame of other  vehicles in the junkyard (where they may
> silently think it belongs).   Those are the types of people who need
> a new car with a warranty; not my  bus.
>
> Martin (and '82 Westy 1.9TD)
>
>
>
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