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

[Dan Goncharoff]

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??

DanG


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)
>
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>
> 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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