"Why do lions only mate in the…

“Pride comes before a fall” is a version of the saying in the Bible, Book of Proverbs, 16:18. “Pride” does not mean a group of lions and “fall” does not mean autumn, but there are jokes.

“Summer on the veldt/ Lion spotters know the pride/ Comes before the fall” was posted on the newsgroup alt.callahans on July 5, 2001. “Coming up on BBC4, a documentary about the sex lives of lions near the end of the summer. That’s ‘Pride Comes Before The Fall’, at 10pm” was posted on Twitter by Equium on July 22, 2017.

A riddle was posted on Reddit—Dadjokes on July 23, 2020:

Q: Why do lions only mate in the summer?
A: Because the pride comes before the fall!

Wiktionary: pride comes before a fall
Etymology
Probably a misquote of:
. 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Book of Proverbs, 16:18,
. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
. . see also, James 4:6 (KJV): But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
. . and, 1 Peter 5:5 (KJV): Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Proverb
pride comes before a fall
1. A person who is excessively proud will often suffer a setback or failure.

Google Groups: alt.callahans
LPS: Badger’s Haiku-a-Day 29 June 2001
Martin DeMello
7/5/01
(...)
Summer on the veldt
Lion spotters know the pride
Comes before the fall

Twitter
Manish
@savvystrider
“The pride comes before the fall.” - the tagline to a movie I’m writing about lions that attack in the summer
7:09 PM · Sep 5, 2011·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Michael
@femiid
Replying to @utomisphere
Lmaooooooooo!! “@utomisphere: They say pride comes before the fall. So a group of lions appears immediately after the summer?”
9:35 AM · Jun 15, 2013·Twitter for iPad

Twitter
dayman
@slvrms
They say pride comes before the fall but I have yet to see a group of lions at the end of summer
10:51 PM · Mar 15, 2017 from Tempe, AZ·Twitter for iPhone

Twitter
Equium
@EquiumFox
Coming up on BBC4, a documentary about the sex lives of lions near the end of the summer. That’s “Pride Comes Before The Fall”, at 10pm.
6:56 PM · Jul 22, 2017·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Queen Dork of Elfheim • #BLM
@OhNoItsGlitch
a movie about a bunch of lions trying to fuck as much as possible before the summer ends, titled “Pride Comes Before the Fall”
4:02 AM · Dec 30, 2018·TweetDeck

Reddit—Dadjokes
Posted by u/SamwellBarley July 23, 2020
Why do lions only mate in the summer?
Because the pride comes before the fall!

Twitter
Dad Jokes
@Dadsaysjokes
Why do lions only mate in the summer?
Because the pride comes before the fall!
3:40 PM · Jul 23, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

“Why do lions only mate in the summer?”/“Because the pride comes before the fall.”