[Ads-l] Japanese (?) proverb

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> From Peter Quennell's 1962 translation of Henry de Montherlant's 1922
> novel, _The Dream_ (p.85):
>
> "Remembering the Japanese proverb: 'Victory belongs to him who can hold out
> another of an hour.'"

Back in 2011 Barry Popik sent an email to me and a few other
researchers asking about the following thematically related expression
"Hero is brave five minutes longer" attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I performed a preliminary search and responded with the following
message.

[Begin email sent from Garson O'Toole May 19, 2011]
I am traveling with a laptop and searching is a hassle with a small
screen, slow connection etc, so I just looked in GB. Here is an
expression of a similar idea or precursor in 1878:

Cite: 1878 May, Temple Bar: A London Magazine, "Sticks, Stocks and
Stones" by Arma Virumque Cano, Page 54, Richard Bentley & Son, London.
(Google Books full view)

'Tis the same morally: all men are brave, but if one man is brave two
minutes longer than the other he has a decided advantage.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ClkYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22brave+two%22#v=snippet&

A Google search indicates that the “two minute” variant is still in
use in Congress.

Senate Session - C-SPAN Video Library

Sep 25, 2003... SOLDIERS CAME UP WITH A SAYING THAT "THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN A HERO ON THE ONE HAND A COWARD IS THE HERO IS BRAVE TWO
MINUTES LONGER. ..

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=596024269
[Begin email sent from Garson O'Toole May 19, 2011]

Barry Popik created an entry on the topic here:

https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/a_hero_is_no_braver_than_an_ordinary_man_but_he_is_brave_five_minutes_longe

Garson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org