It took me a while to come to terms with this, especially as I began to EDC increasingly expensive knives for work. What I won't do is abuse a good knife by cutting something better suited to a different tool. I also carry a beater with a decent edge at work for tasks like scraping or cutting up against something that would wreck the edge or heavily scratch a handle or blade.
That said, for some reason blade scratches bother me more than handle scratches, perhaps because they seem more indicative of abuse to me. I also dislike scratches that come from absent-minded or careless use, like those that result from lack of concentration while sharpening.
I've generally thought of my knives in several categories--drawer queens, light users, general EDC, and work users, plus beaters. I'm moving on from drawer queens and cutting down on light users by moving them up into the general EDC or work user realms. I'm working toward a use it or lose it (but don't abuse it) policy with my knives, although there will still be some I want to keep nice.