hare and tortoise
Slow beats fast
The hare and tortoise refers to Aesop's fable in which a swift but overconfident hare loses a race to a slow but steady tortoise.
The phrase evokes any competition between a flashy favorite and a plodding underdog: It was a hare and tortoise situation—the startup burned through cash while the legacy company quietly gained market share.
The moral: consistent effort beats erratic talent.
- raceCompetition of speed
- finish lineRace completion marker
- head startBeginning advantage given
- slowLacking in speed
- fastSpeedy, or skip eating
slow and steady · fable · Aesop · tall tale · children's story · finish · steady · perseverance · shell · hard shell · ears · long ears · sprint · plod · nap · sleep · arrogance · humility
- fablesfable, Aesop, Aesop's fables, Aesop fables, the boy who cried wolf
- Rabbit FolkloreBr'er Rabbit, moon rabbit, jade rabbit, clever rabbit, trickster tales
hare and tortoisesurvival of the fittest
Adaptive advantage perpetuates species
Achilles · natural selection · winner takes all · David and Goliath
hare and tortoiselevel playing field
Equal competitive conditions
neck and neck · dead heat · heavyweight bout · clash of titans · toss-up
hare, tortoise, hares, tortoises, hairs, hairless, hairiness