Quote Origin: It Ain’t Bragging If You Can Do It

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Dizzy Dean? Muhammad Ali? Sonny Liston? Reggie Jackson? Babe Ruth? Anonymous?

Picture of a baseball stadium from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Unfounded boasts are criticized, but an individual who sets and accomplishes an audacious goal can win praise. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying:

(1) It ain’t bragging if you can do it.
(2) It ain’t bragging when you can do it.
(3) It ain’t bragging if it’s true.

This saying has been attributed to three baseball players: Dizzy Dean. Reggie Jackson, and Babe Ruth. It has also been credited to two boxers: Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: U.S. professional baseball pitcher Jay Hanna Dean was known by his nickname Dizzy Dean. In 1934 he published an article in several newspapers which discussed bragging. Dean communicated the central idea of the saying, but he employed a different phrasing:1

There’s one thing about us Deans. Some people think we do a lot of bragging, but we don’t figure it’s bragging. When we say we’re good we say it because we believe it down in our hearts and I—I kinda think you could get a pretty good argument out of Mickey Cochrane if you tried to tell him that we weren’t so hot as pitchers.

What I started to say, though, was that we don’t brag. Whenever we say we’re going to do something we go out and do it.

Dizzy Dean’s extraordinary pitching performance helped his team, the St. Louis Cardinals, win the National League pennant and the World Series in 1934. QI believes that Dean’s essay was condensed and paraphrased over time to yield the sayings attributed to Dean. Below is an overview showing the evolution of the phrase together with dates, and attributions.

1934: We don’t brag. Whenever we say we’re going to do something we go out and do it. (Dizzy Dean)

1935: It’s not bragging when a fellow can back up anything he says. (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1943: If I can do what I say, it ain’t bragging, is it? (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1951: It ain’t bragging when you can back it up. (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1958: It ain’t bragging when you can do it. (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1959: It ain’t bragging if you can do it! (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1962: It ain’t bragging if you can do it. (Anonymous “old adage”)

1966: It ain’t bragging when you done done it. (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1968: If I tell the truth. It sounds like bragging. And if I don’t, I’m lying. (Sonny Liston)

1973: It ain’t bragging if you can do it. (Attributed to Muhammad Ali)

1974: It ain’t bragging if it’s true. (Attributed to Dizzy Dean)

1976: If you do it, it ain’t bragging. (A profound philosopher)

1990: It ain’t bragging when you can do it. (Attributed to Reggie Jackson)

1994: It ain’t bragging if you can do it. (Attributed to Babe Ruth)

2007: It’s not bragging if you can back it up. (Attributed to Muhammad Ali)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

In 1935 “The Minneapolis Star” of Minnesota printed a piece by sports journalist Charles Johnson which contained a paraphrase of the statement in Dean’s 1934 essay:2

As Dizzy himself said during the world series last fall, “it’s not bragging when a fellow can back up anything he says.” Maybe that’s true, but when a braggart loses his athletic cunning his admirers desert him in a hurry.

In 1943 a newspaper in Corpus Christi, Texas printed the following filler item:3

Admiral Halsey might have added what Dizzy Dean once said: “If I can do what I say, it ain’t bragging, is it?” — Dallas News.

In 1951 a letter published in the “Tucson Daily Citizen” of Arizona contained a version of the saying:4

Maybe my friends have something there. Just like Dizzy Dean said when accused of bragging, “It ain’t bragging when you can back it up.”

In 1958 a sports column in the “St. Louis Globe-Democrat” of Missouri credited Dean with another version of the saying:5

It’s just the little difference that makes one player stand out above another. And to paraphrase what Dizzy Dean has said: “it ain’t bragging when you can do it.” The bit of showmanship helps when the player has the other equipment to go with it.

In 1959 a restaurant advertising published in a Stevens Point, Wisconsin newspaper contained the following:6

Dizzy Dean used to say – – “It ain’t bragging if you can do it!” And that’s how we feel about our chicken here at the Spa.

In 1962 “The Bulletin” of Anaheim, California printed an anonymous instance of the saying:7

… the old adage, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

In 1966 “The Atlanta Constitution” of Georgia printed the following:8

GUFFAW OF THE WEEK—
Emcee Dr. Noah Langdale, employing a story by “that great American philosopher Jay Hannah (Dizzy) Dean” and urging Koufax not to be too modest about his feats. “Madam,” Dean told a lady who said she was tired of his bragging, “it ain’t bragging when you done done it.”

In 1968 “The Miami News” of Florida printed a remark from boxer Sonny Liston:9

Then he began explaining his dilemma. “If I tell the truth,” Sonny would say, “It sounds like bragging. And if I don’t, I’m lying.”

In 1973 a columnist in the “Los Angeles Times” of California attributed an instance to a famous boxer:10

As Muhammad Ali once said, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

In 1974 “The Advocate” newspaper of Stamford, Connecticut attributed yet another version of the saying to Dean:11

As Dizzy Dean is alleged to have said, “It ain’t bragging if it’s true.” Ragozzino has been able to deliver in the past, and this season should be no exception.

In 1976 a newspaper in Austin, Texas attributed an instance to an anonymous philosopher:12

A profound philosopher advanced scientific evaluation procedures a bunch, though, when he said: “If you do it, it ain’t bragging.”

IN 1990 “The News Tribune” of Tacoma, Washington credited the saying to a famous baseball player:13

Backing his words — Reggie Jackson used to say, “It ain’t bragging when you can do it.” And Oakland’s Mark McGwire says teammate Jose Canseco has become baseball’s new Reggie.

In 1994 another famous baseball player received credit in the pages of a newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota.14

As Babe Ruth said, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

In 2000 the “Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary” contained the following entry:15

DIZZY DEAN (1911-1974). American baseball player
It ain’t bragging if you can do it.

Iin 2003 “The Big Book of Business Quotations” contained the following entry:16

It ain’t bragging if you can do it.
Babe Ruth (1895-1948) U.S. baseball player. Quoted in Woodbury Reports Archives (December 1994)

In 2007 “Geary’s Guide To the World’s Great Aphorists” contained the following entry:17

ALI, MUHAMMAD (United States, 1942— )
It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

In conclusion, Dizzy Dean published an essay in 1934 that expressed the idea of the saying under examination.  During subsequent years, several variants of the saying entered circulation. Dizzy Dean often received credit although none of these sayings precisely matched Dean’s original phrasing.

Image Notes: Picture of a baseball stadium from Joshua Peacock at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to George Mannes whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Mannes mentioned the attributions to Dizzy Dean and Muhammad Ali.

  1. 1934 October 6, The Cleveland Press, “We’re Not Bragging, Just Good,” Says Diz: When You Say You’re Going to Do a Thing and Then Do It, That’s Not Boasting by Dizzy Dean (Baseball’s Greatest Pitcher), Quote Page 11, Column 3, Cleveland, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  2. 1935 April 26, The Minneapolis Star, The Lowdown on Sports by Charles Johnson, Quote Page 22, Column 2, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  3. 1943 January 18, The Corpus Christi Times, (Filler item), Quote Page 4, Column 2, Corpus Christi, Texas. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  4. 1951 September 1, Tucson Daily Citizen, Letter Section Title: The Citizen’s Mailbox, Letter Title: A Spaghetti “War”, Letter From: Phil Premy, Quote Page 14, Column 3, Tucson, Arizona. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  5. 1958 September 10, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, The Bench Warmer: Color’s Misplaced in Sports by Robert L. Burnes, Quote Page 19, Column 4, St. Louis, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  6. 1959 April 3, Stevens Point Daily Journal, Advertisement Title: We’re Bragging . . . Everybody’s Crowing About Our Chicken!, Restaurant Advertiser: The Country Spa, Quote Page 7, Column 7, Stevens Point, Wisconsin. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  7. 1962 August 7, The Bulletin, I’ll Handel This by Leonard R. Handel (Bulletin Sports Editor), Quote Page B2, Column 1, Anaheim, California. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  8. 1966 February 3, The Atlanta Constitution, Oliver Wants to ‘Go Steady’ by Charlie Roberts, Quote Page 50, Column 4, Atlanta, Georgia. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  9. 1968 June 29, The Miami News, Liston’s Mother Wit Didn’t Amuse Ali by Robert Lipsyte (New York Times), Quote Page 1B, Column 1, Miami, Florida. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  10. 1973 April 15, Los Angeles Times, This Rose Is Genuine by Jim Murray, Section 3, Quote Page 1, Column 1, Los Angeles, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  11. 1974 December 9, The Advocate, Another trademark Rip five — good or outstanding by Tom Krazit (Advocate Staff Reporter), Start Page 21, Quote Page 22, Column 2, Stamford, Connecticut. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  12. 1976 August 18, The Austin American-Statesman, If you can do it, it ain’t bragging by George Breazeale (Sports Staff), Quote Page D4, Column 1, Austin, Texas. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  13. 1990 July 29, The News Tribune, Leonard gave Mariners their money’s worth by Larry LaRue (The News Tribune Baseball Writer), Quote Page C6, Column 1, Tacoma, Washington. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  14. 1994 January 23, Star Tribune, What’s the Rush by Dave Matheny (Staff Writer), Quote Page 14F, Column 4, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  15. 2000, Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary, Edited by Leonard Roy Frank, Person: Dizzy Dean, Quote Page 67, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  16. 2003, The Big Book of Business Quotations, Topic: Accomplishments, Quote Page 2, Column 2, Basic Books: A Member of the Perseus Books Group, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  17. 2007, Geary’s Guide To the World’s Great Aphorists by James Geary, Chapter: Icons and Iconoclasts, Person: Muhammad Ali, Section: Essential Aphorisms, Quote Page 69, Bloomsbury USA, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎