[Ads-l] Quote: Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there

[mr_peter_morris@outlook.com]

I've seen several early cites attributing the quote to "Columbia Record"

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Churchman/_0UbK-5TzDwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&dq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Town_Journal/4MAeKagpLfUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&dq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&printsec=frontcover

Here's another variant which appears to be from March 1926

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Farming_the_Business_Magazine/1PdEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&dq=%22on+the+right+track%22+%22get+run+over%22&printsec=frontcover



------ Original Message ------
From "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 27/01/2025 14:58:57
Subject Quote: Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over 
if you just sit there

>The quip in the subject line has been attributed to Will Rogers and
>Mark Twain. An inquiry about its provenance came to me from a person
>who encountered it in a book by Pixar and Simpsons artist Matthew Luhn
>titled "The Best Story Wins: How to Leverage Hollywood Storytelling"
>(2018) where it was credited to Will Rogers.
>
>Here is a link to the QI article:
>https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/01/26/right-track/
>
>I concluded that the most likely creator was Tom Sims.
>
>Will Rogers died in 1935, and he received credit by 1970. Mark Twain
>died in 1910, and he received credit by 1984. The time delay in both
>cases was excessive; hence, those two attributions were not
>substantive.
>
>The earliest match I found appeared within a syndicated column titled
>“Tom Sims Says” which  was printed in newspapers such as “The
>Sheboygan Press” of Wisconsin and “The Indianapolis Times” of Indiana.
>The column contained miscellaneous jokes and observations. Here were
>three items:
>
>[ref] 1925 March 7, The Sheboygan Press, Tom Sims Says, Quote Page 24,
>Column 3, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>The straight and narrow path is plenty wide for its traffic.
>
>Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there.
>
>Love is blind. But there is always some friend who thinks he is an eye doctor.
>[End excerpt]
>
>Feedback welcome
>Garson O'Toole
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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