[Ads-l] "The race is not to the swift..."

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Back in 2013 JL mentioned an anti-proverb that was constructed by
spinning a verse from Ecclesiastes:

The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but
that is the way to bet.

YBQ has an entry. Barry Popik posted an entry in 2009, and I posted a
message to the list in 2011. Nigel Rees mentioned it in the July 2014
issue of "The Quote Unquote Newsletter"

Now there is a 2,610 word post on this topic that includes some new
material, e.g., precursor cites in 1833 and 1861; a cite in a booklet
issued in 1912 upon the death of Hugh E. Keough.

The Race Is Not Always to the Swift, Nor the Battle to the Strong; But
That Is the Best Way to Bet
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/04/race-swift/

Garson


On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 2:32 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "The race is not to the swift..."
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My apologies if Garson or Fred has already dealt with this famous saying
> here.
>
> I mean, of course, Damon Runyon's line about that being the way to bet.
>
> Based on a 1936 citation, YBQ advances the lpossibility that the true
> originator, or at least the first noted utterer of this wisdom, was not
> Runyon but the hournalist and racing enthusiast Hugh Keough (1864-1912).
>
> Here is corroboration, published long before Runyon's usage:
>
>
> Franklin P. Adams, in _Collier's Weekly_ (Feb. 8, 1919) p. 9:
>
> "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.'"
>
>
> If Keough ever committed his saying to print, I've been unable to find it.
> Or any earlier attribution to anyone.
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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