A hundredth re-read of the LotR

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Originally Posted by Thinlómien

In this chapter, we have the memorable saying "Short cuts make long delays." I'm wondering, is that originally invented by Tolkien, or has he picked it from somewhere? (I've never heard it anywhere else, which of course doesn't mean anything since I'm not a native speaker... But I haven't heard the Finnish equivalent of it either.)

In Swedish we have the saying genvägar är senvägar which pretty much has the same meaning as "Short cuts make long delays" with an even better ring to it - but you would know that, wouldn't you?

I'm going to check how it's translated into Swedish. Yes, it's "genvägar kan bli senvägar". I don't know if the good Prof has an interest in Swedish and Swedish sayings and picked it up from there or if he just made it up.