Did Lincoln Really Say That? No He Didn't
By Jeffrey Boutwell
Columbia, MD.
Oct. 8, 2026
This summer, while visiting the Rhode Island seashore, I went into an upscale clothing store and saw this sign on the wall:
My immediate gut reaction was, no; Abraham Lincoln could never have said that. This type of bland platitude is something you’d find in a fortune cookie or inside a Cracker Jack box. As in, It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
I tracked down the quote on the web while enjoying a lunch of lobster rolls with friends. Yes, this one is mistakenly attributed to Lincoln, and to other notable figures as well. Perhaps even Winston Churchill, a contender with Lincoln for many of our most memorable quotes (or, in Churchill’s case, barbs).
For those interested, there’s a website devoted to sayings that Lincoln never said:
As we walked back past the store to our car, I stopped in to tell the owner that his sign mistakenly attributed the quote to Lincoln. Perhaps not surprisingly, he couldn’t have cared less. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln on the wall is worth a few extra fivers in the till.
Photo by Jeffrey Boutwell
Comments