Many well-known phrases benefit from a bit of editing, and from the fact that we relate to their edited versions as the original. Leo Durocher's "nice guys finish last" is a case in point. Durocher was a colorful, and successful, major league baseball manager known for a hot temper. Wikipedia tells us that in 1946, referring to a team other than his he remarked:
The nice guys are all over there, in seventh placewhich is catchy, but far from classic. Over the years, and apparently with the help of a couple of sportswriters, however, the phrase evolved into its present very-quotable form.