It’s Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight, It’s the Size of the Fight in the Dog

Mark Twain? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Arthur G. Lewis? Clarence Edmundson? Bear Bryant? Harry Howell? Samuel B. Pettengill? Woody Hayes? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: When there is a conflict between two entities an observer naturally expects the larger one to prevail, but sometimes the determination and grit of the smaller one produces an upset victory. The following adage using antimetabole is pertinent:

What counts is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

This saying has been attributed to famous humorist Mark Twain and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. I am skeptical of these linkages. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Mark Twain employed this saying. Scholar Matt Seybold of the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies has also concluded that the attribution to Twain is unsupported.^[1]Website: Center for Mark Twain Studies, Article: The Apocryphal Twain: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog” Author: Matt Seybold, Date: July 14, … Continue reading

The earliest match known to QI appeared in the April 1911 issue of the magazine “Book of the Royal Blue” which was published for the passengers of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Columnist Arthur G. Lewis printed a collection of sayings under the title “Stub Ends of Thoughts”. Here were four items. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[2]1911 April, Book of the Royal Blue, Volume 14, Number 7, Stub Ends of Thoughts by Arthur G. Lewis, Quote Page 21, Column 1, Published Monthly by the Passenger Department of the Baltimore & Ohio … Continue reading

We are constrained to respect public opinion or public opinion will not respect us.

As long as a man endeavors to make good there is always a chance for him to do so.

It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the fight in the dog that wins.

But few friendships survive the “down and out” condition of multiplied misfortunes.

QI tentatively credits Arthur G. Lewis with crafting this adage. The above citation appeared in the excellent reference work “The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs” published by Yale University Press in 2012.^[3] 2012, The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, Quote Page 232, Yale University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper)

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Mark Twain did compose an adage about dogs, but it was quite different. His 1894 novel “Pudd’nhead Wilson” featured epigraphs for each chapter. The sixteenth chapter began with a saying that acerbically placed dogs on a higher ethical plane than humans:^[4]1894, The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson; And the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens), Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, (Epigraph at beginning of chapter 16), Quote … Continue reading

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

In 1904 “The Baltimore Sun” of Maryland printed a piece titled “A Canine Hero: The Story Of a Dog That Died For His Mistress” which included a precursor expression about a small dog that prevailed against a large dog:^[5] 1904 April 24, The Sun, A Canine Hero: The Story Of a Dog That Died For His Mistress, Quote Page 14, Column 2, Baltimore, Maryland. (GenealogyBank)

There was something very formidable in the glare which his brown eyes took on them when facing some nasty-tempered beast, and even some of the fiercest were cowed by it, and, with bristling back hairs, retreated in awe of the little hero, for you know that dogs are well aware that it is not the size of the dogs, but of his jaws and teeth, that decides matters.

On April 15, 1911 “The Editor and Publisher” of New York reprinted with acknowledgement the article by Arthur G. Lewis from the “Book of the Royal Blue”. Thus, the saying achieved further circulation:^[6]1911 April 15, The Editor and Publisher, Stub Ends of Thought, (Article by Arthur G. Lewis reprinted from Book of the Royal Blue), Quote Page 8, Column 2, The Editor and Publisher Company, New York. … Continue reading

It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the fight in the dog that wins.

Later in 1911 the saying appeared in other periodicals such as the “East Oregonian” of Pendleton, Oregon^[7] 1911 April 20, East Oregonian, Edition: Evening, (Untitled filler item), Quote Page 10, Column 4, Pendleton, Oregon. (Chronicling America) and “The American Journal of Clinical Medicine” of Chicago, Illinois. In the latter, A. G. Lewis received credit.^[8] 1911 July, The American Journal of Clinical Medicine, Volume 18, Number 6, (Filler item), Quote Page 713, Column 2, The Abbott Press, Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link

In April 1929 a version of the saying was employed by a coach in Washington state:^[9] 1929 April 18, The Daily Olympian (Morning Olympian), Sweater Are Awarded to Athletes at Lacey, Quote Page 1, Column 5, Olympia, Washington. (GenealogyBank)

It isn’t so much the size of the dog in the fight that counts, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

So reminded Clarence (Hec) Edmundson, basketball and track coach at the University of Washington, in an address on the value of athletics, delivered at the annual basketball banquet of St. Martin’s college held Wednesday evening in the college banquet hall.

In June 1929 an instance appeared in the syndicated comic “Jabby”. The one-panel image depicted a small dog intimidating a larger dog:^[10]1929 June 18, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jabby (caption of one panel cartoon showing a small dog intimidating a larger dog; cartoon from Register and Tribune Syndicate), Quote Page 4, Column 4, … Continue reading

“The decidin’ point isn’t the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.”

In 1930 a variant appeared in an advertisement for a plumbing and heating company in Bolivar, New York:^[11] 1930 July 10, The Bolivar Breeze, (Advertisement for Stimson & Bell, Plumbing and Heating of Bolivar, New York), Quote Page 7, Column 5, Bolivar, New York. (Old Fulton)

The future pathway for the merchant is rough, rugged and dangerous and will be strewn with wreckage along the way, but remember that it’s not the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog that wins.

In 1942 H. L. Mencken included the saying in his wonderful reference work “A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles”. Mencken was unable to identify the creator:^[12]1942, A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources, Selected and Edited by H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken), Section: Fighting, Quote Page 399, Column 1, … Continue reading

It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight that counts; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Author unidentified

In 1958 U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower used the expression during a speech:^[13]1958 February 1, New York Times, Eisenhower Spurs G.O.P. Vote Drive to Win Congress by William S. White (Dateline January 31, 1958; Special to The New York Times), Quote Page 1, Column 4, New York. … Continue reading

…the President acknowledged that “the political prophets” had predicted hard times for his party this year.

“But,” he went on, “these calculations overlook the decisive element: What counts is not the size of the dog in the fight—it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

In 1965 football coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant used the saying as reported in a Shreveport, Louisiana newspaper:^[14] 1965 September 5, The Shreveport Times, Of People and Places, Quote Page 2D, Column 1, Shreveport, Louisiana. (Newspapers_com)

But the Bear believes in the adage that it’s the size of the fight in the dog that counts more than the size of the dog in the fight.

In 1968 “The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life” included a pertinent entry which credited yet another speaker:^[15] 1968, The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life by Forbes Magazine, Quote Page 321, Published by Forbes, Inc., New York. (Verified on paper)

It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that counts! — Harry Howell

In 1977 the collection “Quote Unquote” compiled by Lloyd Cory linked the saying to a U.S. Congressman from Indiana:^[16] 1977, Quote Unquote, Compiled by Lloyd Cory, Section: Chances, Quote Page 44, Published by Victor Books: A Division of SP Publications, Wheaton, Illinois. (Verified on paper)

Remember that “it is not so much the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the size of the fight in the dog.” (SAMUEL PETTENGILL)

The maxim has been attributed to a variety of coaches for decades. For example in 1977 a columnist in Akron, Ohio printed the following:^[17] 1977 November 30, The Akron Beacon Journal, Sometimes you can find gems in the darnedest places by Ken Nichols, Quote Page C2, Column 2, Akron, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)

WEST AKRON Kiwanis: “Thought for the Week: It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that counts.” (Woody Hayes)

In 1991 a piece in “The Olympian” of Olympia, Washington implausibly credited Mark Twain who had died more than eighty years earlier in 1910:^[18]1991 July 1, The Olympian, Section: An advertising supplement to The Olympian, Article: Small cities score big in contest, (Article epigraph), Quote Page 1, Column 1, Olympia, Washington. … Continue reading

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog that counts! — Mark Twain.

Mark Twain also received credit in the 1997 book “How To Give a Damn Good Speech” by Philip R. Theibert:^[19] 1997, How To Give a Damn Good Speech by Philip R. Theibert, Part 5: 250 Great Quotations, Quote Page 149, Career Press, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. (Verified with scans)

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Mark Twain

In conclusion, the earliest known citation in 1911 indicates that columnist Arthur G. Lewis crafted this adage. Subsequently, numerous coaches, politicians, and motivation writers have used this expression. Dwight Eisenhower used the saying in 1958 after it had been circulating for several decades.

(In memoriam: scholar Joel Berson. Great thanks to Joel Berson whose inquiry in 2015 led QI to explore this topic and share initial results on a mailing list. Thanks also to discussant Jonathan Lighter. Further thanks to previous researchers including Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, Fred R. Shapiro, and Matt Seybold.)