"one man trash is another mans treasure"
The earliest example found in Google Books is in Hector Urquhart's introduction to 1860's Popular Tales of the West Highlands
"Practical men may despise the tales, earnest men condemn them as lies, some even consider them wicked ; one refused to write any more for a whole estate ; my best friend says they are all ' blethers.' But one man's rubbish may be another's treasure, and what is the standard of value in such a pursuit as this?
The concept of something having contradictory qualities to different people has been around a long time. "One man's meat is another man's poison" was a 17th century proverb.
so in the 21st Century what's our modern interpretation?
"Where one fails another may pick up the pieces with success?