Modern Fable: Lions and gazelles (Dan Montano 1985 July 6)

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:19 AM -0400 6/24/11, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>Harking back to the joke about the bear -- "I don't have to outrun the bear,
>I just have to outrun YOU." --isn't it more important for the gazelle to
>outrun the slowest gazelle??
>

A particular challenge if you *are* the slowest gazelle.

LH

>
>On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 10:12 AM, Jonathan Lighter
><wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
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>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: Modern Fable: Lions and gazelles (Dan Montano 1985 July
>>  6)
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  It's like the early bird getting the worm. Or not being the worm.
>>
>>  JL
>>
>>  On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 10:08 AM, Garson O'Toole
>>  <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
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>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > Subject:      Modern Fable: Lions and gazelles (Dan Montano 1985 July 6)
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > Thomas L. Friedman included a fable about lions and gazelles in his
>>  > 2005 bestseller "The World is Flat". He labeled it an "African
>>  > proverb" and did not attempt to determine its origin.
>>  >
>>  > The story fragment appears in many books and in some of the big
>>  > quotation databases, e.g., thinkexist.com and quotationsbook.com. The
>>  > source is given as "Unknown". A couple weeks ago, a commenter at the
>>  > Freakonomics blog inquired about the tale. Here is the earliest
>>  > verified instance I have found. The creator might be Dan Montano of
>>  > Montano Securities.
>>  >
>>  > Cite: 1985 July 6, Economist, Insert section: "The other dimension:
>>  > Technology and the City of London: A survey", Lions and gazelles?,
>>  > Page 37, Economist Newspaper Ltd., London. (Verified on microfilm)
>>  >
>>  > Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run
>>  > faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a
>>  > lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will
>>  > starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a
>>  > gazelle: when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
>>  >
>>  > Stockbrokers and bankers at a recent London conference on financial
>>  > technology* laughed appreciatively at this sally from Mr. Dan Montano
>>  > of Montano Securities, an American equities dealer. They chuckled,
>>  > perhaps, a touch indulgently at predictable American excess.
>>  >
>>  > * The Stock Exchange: Deregulation and New Technology: Oyez
>>  > International Business Communications. London June 5th and 6th.
>>  >
>>  > Garson
>>  >
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>>
>>
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>>  "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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