“The road to success is always under construction” (business adage)

“The road to sucess is always under construction” is a popular adage used in business and in otehr fields. The quotation is often attributed to actress/comedienne Lily Tomlin, but the saying was popular before her first television appearance (in 1965).
 
“The road to success is always under construction” has been cited in print since at least March 19, 1963, when it was submitted to a Texas newspaper by J. D. (Jake) Sandefer Jr. of Breckenridge. The saying made many newspapers in July 1963 as “Today’s Chuckle.”
 
   
19 March 1963, Abilene (TX) Reporter-News, “Page One” by Katharyn Duff, pg. 1, col. 1:
Quote offered by J. D. (Jake) Sandefer Jr., Breckenridge:
“The road to success is always under construction.”
 
24 July 1963, Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), pg. 1, col. 1:
Today’s Chuckle
The road to success is always under construction.
 
12 August 1963, Springfield (MA) Union, pg. 1, col. 6:
Today’s Chuckle
The road to success is always under construction.
 
Google Books
Good News on Grape Street:
The transformation of a ghetto school
By Carrie Ayers Haynes
New York, NY: Citation Press
1975
Pg. 135:
Across the hall, blazoning in large capital letters along the back wall, is room 3’s motto: THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
 
Google News Archive
31 October 1977, Boca Raton (FL) News, “The boys from Brooklyn” by Earl Wilson, pg. 7B, col. 2:
REMEMBERED QUOTE: “The road to success is always under construction.”—Larry Bonko.
 
Google Books
How to Solve the Mismanagement Crisis:
Diagnosis and treatment of management problems
By Ichak Adizes
Santa Monica, CA: Adizes Institute
1979
Pg. 222:
“The road to success is always under construction.”- Arnold Palmer
 
Google News Archive
26 January 1983, Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune, pg. 4D, col. 1:
The Road To Success Is
Always Under Construction
BY ELVIN MCDONALD
 
Google Books
The Complete Book of Zingers
By Croft M. Pentz
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers
1990
Pg. 65:
The road to success is always under construction.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The road to success is always under construction
Author: Larry Wall; Kathleen Russell
Publisher: Seattle, Wash. : Walrus Productions, ©1992.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The road to success is always under construction : the 20 laws of success and how to use them for personal and professional achievement
Author: Al Trellis; Paul Sharp
Publisher: [S.l.] : Home Builders Networks, ©1996.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The road to success is always under construction : a reconstructive surgical perspective : an inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Ibadan on Thursday, 29 November, 2007
Author: Odunayo M Oluwatosin
Publisher: [Ibadan] : University of Ibadan, ©2007.
Series: Inaugural lectures (University of Ibadan), 2007. 
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Be the hammer not the nail : because the road to success is always under construction
Author: Lance A Casazza
Publisher: [S.l.] : 3L Publishing, 2010.
Edition/Format:  Book : English