"The man on top of the mountain didn't fall…

“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there” (or “Those at the top of the mointain didn’t fall there”) is a motivational saying that has been printed on many posters. The saying is often credited to American football coach Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), but there’s no evidence that he said it.

“When you see a man on top of a mountain, just remember he didn’t fall there,” Paul H. Dunn of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) said in 1972. The saying appears in two of Dunn’s books from the 1970s.

Wikipedia: Paul H. Dunn
Paul Harold Dunn (April 24, 1924 – January 9, 1998) was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Dunn was widely considered one of the most dynamic speakers among the general authorities in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1991, Dunn stated that he had “not always been accurate” in his speeches and writings after it was reported that he “made up many of the stories about baseball and battle he told as personal experiences”.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
NOVEMBER 1972 FYI: FOR YOUR INFORMATION
(...)
“When you see a man on top of a mountain, just remember he didn’t fall there,” said Elder Paul H. Dunn before a crowd of youth attending the Alabama-Florida Mission conference at Troy State University. His motivating talks made this event “a time to remember” according to Nancy Cattell of Georgia.

Google Books
Discovering the Quality of Success
By Paul H. Dunn
Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Co.
1973
Pg. 15:
... Brigham Young University a few years ago, he declared, “Just remember that when you see a man on top of a mountain he didn’t fall there.” Success and greatness are processes of climbing, and climb you must.

Google Books
Field Notes
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Volumes 75-76
1975
Pg. 62:
“A phrase I picked up a number of years ago from a speaker at Brigham Young University has meaning for us. He said that if a man is found on top of a mountain, he didn’t fall there. It is interesting to get to.
Field Notes March-April 1977

Google Books
Look at Your World
By Paul H. Dunn
Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft
1979, ©1978
Pg. 28:
But in such times I would encourage you to remember the words of a great coach: “Just remember that when you see a man on top of a mountain he didn’t fall there.” Success and greatness are processes of climbing, and climb we must.

3 November 1980, Seattle (WA) Times, “Letters,” pg. A13, col. 3:
When you see a man standing on top of a high mountain, remember that he didn’t fall there.
—David C. Janke,
32120 2nd Ave., S.W., Federal Way

Google Books
Official Report of the ... Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Volume 150
1981
Pg. 105:
A basketball coach claimed, “If you find a man on top of a mountain, he didn’t fall there.”

Google Books
Everyone’s a Homemaker
By Beverly K. Nye
New York, NY: Bantam Books
1982
Pg. 2:
Remember, when you find someone at the top of the mountain, you know he didn’t “fall” there. So if you want to reach the top and be the best, you must start climbing today.

Google Books
Days of Healing Days of Joy:
Daily Meditations for Adult Children
By Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty
Center City, MN” Hazelden Foundation
1992
Pg. 12:
I have to remember that the people on top of the mountain didn’t fall there. –Sarah T.

Google Groups: alt.recovery
How to focus on myself
Matt Leist
1/17/92
(...)
I have to remember that the people on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.
- Sarah T.

Google News Archive
29 October 1993, The Telegraph (Nashua, NH), pg. 19, col. 2 ad:
“Companies on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”
(Design Copy Print.—ed.)

Google Groups: comp.databases
MS-Windows Dialer for APPROACH 2.1?
John Brown
12/16/93
(...)
The person on top of the mountain didn’t fall there ...

Google Books
Marketing Yourself and Your Career
By Jane Ballback and Jan Slater
Irvine, CA: Richard Chang Associates
1996
Pg. 16:
“The man on the top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”
Anonymous

Google Groups: alt.quotations
“Those on top of the mountain…”?
Patrick Sawyer
10/11/00
I would like to know the author of this quotation:
“Those on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”

Have looked in a few sites with no luck.

7 February 2005, The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), “In the end, DOnovan was a bit off” by Bud Poliquin, pg. C1, col. 1:
As such, the toothy smile was knocked off DOnovan’s face at Alltel Stadium where the Patriots—once a football punchline and now an NFL colossus—showed again that the team on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.

Google Books
Vince Lombardi:
His Words
By Ann Kannings
Lulu Press, Inc.
2014
Pg. ?:
“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”

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“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” - Vince Lombardi
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5:55 PM - 29 Nov 2015