Proverb? "When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there."


Around the Internet, "When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you
are only halfway there" is floating around as a Japanese proverb.

A [Google
search](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enJP903JP903&biw=2327&bih=1180&ei=3j81X5KpGcbmwQOB7rSIAQ&q=japanese+proverb+%22only+halfway+there%22&oq=japanese+proverb+%22only+halfway+there%22&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQA1CJGFiiG2CnHGgAcAB4AIABdIgBiwWSAQMwLjaYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&sclient=psy-
ab&ved=0ahUKEwiSkL6upJjrAhVGc3AKHQE3DREQ4dUDCAw&uact=5) for `Japanese proverb
"only halfway there"` gives 12,000+ hits and several Instagram-ready quote
photos. None of the first 100 hits cite a Japanese source.

What is the actual proverb in Japanese?




I think the standard version is
[百里を行く者は九十を半ばとす](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%99%BE%E9%87%8C%E3%82%92%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%8F%E8%80%85%E3%81%AF%E4%B9%9D%E5%8D%81%E3%82%92%E5%8D%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99/)
"Who travels a hundred [_li_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_\(unit\)) calls
ninety a half", because this is the original form attested in [a Chinese
chronicle](https://ctext.org/zhan-guo-ce/wei-qin-wang#n49690).

There is another quote from a Japanese writer [Ryūnosuke
Akutagawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa), which says
[百里の半ばを九十九里とする](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000879/files/43751_27955.html)
"assumes the half of a hundred _li_ to be ninety-nine _li_ ".

Either way, I could not find an exact Japanese source that tells the number
"95%". And I doubt that it exists.




I think the standard version is
[百里を行く者は九十を半ばとす](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%99%BE%E9%87%8C%E3%82%92%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%8F%E8%80%85%E3%81%AF%E4%B9%9D%E5%8D%81%E3%82%92%E5%8D%8A%E3%81%B0%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99/)
"Who travels a hundred [_li_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_\(unit\)) calls
ninety a half", because this is the original form attested in [a Chinese
chronicle](https://ctext.org/zhan-guo-ce/wei-qin-wang#n49690).

There is another quote from a Japanese writer [Ryūnosuke
Akutagawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa), which says
[百里の半ばを九十九里とする](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000879/files/43751_27955.html)
"assumes the half of a hundred _li_ to be ninety-nine _li_ ".

Either way, I could not find an exact Japanese source that tells the number
"95%". And I doubt that it exists.

