what goes around comes around

A modern proverb of US origin.

1974 E. STONE Donald writes no More xv. No one can say why Donald Goines and Shirley Sailor were murdered. The ghetto philosophy, ‘what goes around comes around’, is the only answer most people can give. It is probably the answer Donald Goines himself would have provided.

1982 H. STEIN Ethics 108 At this juncture another, more recent, adage springs to mind: What goes around comes around. It is, all in all, a terrific statement, and I know a lot of people who would turn handsprings if only they could be assured it was true.

1989 Washington Times 19 Apr. F1 No sooner had the royal accusers sent Louis XVI and his queen to the guillotine, than they themselves were being hoist onto the tumbrels by men whose own heads would later drop into the basket. What goes around comes around.

2007 New Scientist 17 Nov. 7 What goes around comes around. Unfortunately, no such karma figures in plans to deflect asteroids on a collision course with Earth.