So, Joe, did you ever find the original source of this saying? My mother used to say it to me every time I complained about anything, whether it was raking the leaves, doing the dishes, or getting dumped by my high school boyfriend: "Well, Heather," she'd say, "you've gotta be rough and tough and hard to bluff and used to many hardships." It used to drive me crazy, but eventually it became a sort of family motto that we now repeat to one another -- often in unison -- whenever the situation requires. I'd love to know where it comes from! (I did ask my mother, and all she can tell me is that her mother used to say it to her, too, which pushes it back at least to the 1940s.)