etymologyexpressions
In the movie Cloud Atlas, Tom Hanks' earliest character ('Henry Goose') and Hugo Weaving's latest character ('Georgie') use the phrase
The weak are meat, and the strong do eat
Now, I don't think that's actually quoted from anywhere else, but I was wondering if it was based on / inspired by similar phrases, maxims or utterances from older, more established sources – literary, religious, legal or political.
I don't know if google timeline gives any clues. Chicago Tribune used it in 1993, so it predates the web. A lot of the early references seem to be from golf!
Digging deeper, it's maybe an offshoot from 'You da man!' which goes back to 1990 and does seem to be a thing shouted on golf courses. That reference is from another Chicago newspaper.
The Oxford English Dictionary says this colloquial use of the adverb up is very frequent from circa 1850, long before Bugs Bunny's 1940 debut. Two citations:
1838 E. C. Gaskell Let. 19 Aug. (1966) 37, I did not mention a word to Lucy but she must have guessed something was ‘up’.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 19/1 A shout in answer from the other asks ‘What's up?’
I found an antedating from 1813 in The history and adventures of Godfrey Ranger by David William Paynter:
And an 1819 in Right about face; or, Ben the Gordon boy by Emily Brodie:
Best Answer
Actually, this line of dialogue is quoted from somewhere else. It is the English translation of the following Japanese four-character idiom:
English translation:
Meaning:
Edit:
This is in response to OP's request for more information regarding the origin of this Japanese four-character idiom.
It is based on a similar Chinese expression, which has the same meaning:
The source is Han Yu, a precursor of Neo-Confucianism, essayist, and poet from the Tang dynasty who was born in 768.
(Wiktionary)
(Goo Dictionary)
(Hatena Dictionary)