More an ideal than a principle seen in real life, this phrase is nevertheless a mantra for many people. This will be heard most often from those with less success in attracting a person of the opposite sex.

You probably know someone like this. A really nice guy/girl, who treats everyone else with respect, never starts anything, and yet manages to continue unnoticed. Others will look at this person and say, "You know, [s]he is a really civil person, [s]he deserves something better." And yet, many of these are the same people who are going around with a physically attractive, uncivilized SO.

Explain that one to me.

Never mind. I already know why. Yet another of the great paradoxes, where everyone agrees that something should be done, but nobody does anything about it.