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The Apocryphal Twain: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

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2021-07-15 03:30:05

Home » Blog » The Apocryphal Twain » The Apocryphal Twain: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

Variations on the “fight in the dog” aphorism are most often invoked in relation to sporting events or military culture. Here are two representative recent tweets:

“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.” –Mark Twain#NationalTakeYourDogtoWorkDay #NSW #SEALDogs #WorkingDogs pic.twitter.com/iwjamrIuir

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." – Mark Twain – @NathanGerbe14 pic.twitter.com/cGCvlBv1e3

The contemporary association of the aphorism with sports and war hints at the history of its usage. For a period of forty years, the quote was nearly always attributed to one of two men: University of Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, or US President and famed World War II Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

President Eisenhower is on the record first. In a speech to the RNC on January 31, 1958 he said, “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” But within a year, newspapers quoted Bryant using the same aphorism, as he apparently did with great frequency in the ensuing decades. (It’s prominently featured in Jim Dent’s 1999 bestseller, Junction Boys, for instance.)