The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but that is the way to bet (antedating attrib Hugh Keough 1919 February 8)

[Garson O'Toole]

Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that
> is the way to bet." --Hugh Keough

For this saying the Yale Book of Quotations cites the 1937 collection
"More Than Somewhat" by Damon Runyon, but also notes an earlier
attribution in 1936 to Hugh Keough.

Here is a 1919 instance in which famed wit Franklin P. Adams
attributes the saying to Hugh Keough.

Cite: 1919 February 8, Collier's: The National Weekly, Demobilizing
Washington by Franklin P. Adams, Page 9, Column 3, P. F. Collier &
Son, Inc., New York. (Google Books full view)

As to injustice in the Army, as to putting a man on a job he is
unfitted for, as to failure to recognize merit - my observation has
been that there is more injustice, misfitting, and unfairness of
promotion and retardment in civil life than there is in the Army. As
Hugh Keough used to say: "The race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong; but that is the way to bet."

Garson

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