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Who really said it

I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it

Not George Bernard Shaw — an anonymous folk adage Anonymous (popularized by Cyrus S. Ching) Adage evolved c. 1872–1948 · brought to prominence 1948
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

There is no evidence George Bernard Shaw ever said or wrote this. Quote Investigator ↗ shows the saying evolved anonymously over decades — a partial “hog” version appeared by 1872, and the memorable telling was popularized by U.S. labor mediator Cyrus Stuart Ching in a 1948 profile, where he credited an unnamed uncle. Shaw wasn’t linked to it until a 1994 Usenet post, 44 years after his death.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it” Anonymous folk adage (popularized by Cyrus S. Ching, 1948); frequently misattributed to George Bernard Shaw. Per Quote Investigator, the Shaw ascription is unsupported.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to George Bernard Shaw. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Cyrus Stuart Ching — U.S. labor mediator · first head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Theme: "I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the wording actually comes from

Attributed to
George Bernard Shaw (unsupported)
Actual origin
Anonymous adage; evolved c. 1872–1948
Popularizer
Cyrus Stuart Ching, Saturday Evening Post profile, 1948
First tied to Shaw
1994 Usenet post — 44 years after Shaw's death

He said, ‘What’s the sense of wrestling with a pig? You both get all over muddy… and the pig likes it.’

Cyrus Ching’s 1948 telling, crediting an unnamed uncle — the version Quote Investigator identifies as the key popularization. The polished “I learned long ago…” wording credited to Shaw appears only in later, undocumented retellings.

Quote Investigator: full timeline and conclusion

The paper trail

This is an anonymous folk adage with no single identifiable author or first-publication work; the polished wording credited to Shaw cannot be tied to any documented source. Because the wording’s origin is unknown, no copyright status is asserted. (Ching’s 1948 telling is a distinct, differently worded version.)

Fact-check

A magnet-name misattribution

This is a classic “quotation superstar” misattribution: a punchy anonymous adage pinned onto famous names long after their deaths. Quote Investigator found no evidence any of them said it.

George Bernard Shaw No evidence

Shaw (1856–1950) was first credited only in a 1994 Usenet post ↗ — 44 years after he died — with no record in any of his plays, letters, or prefaces.

Mark Twain Unsupported

Twain was credited via a 2001 Usenet message ↗, with no supporting evidence, per Quote Investigator.

Abraham Lincoln Unsupported

Lincoln was tentatively credited in a 1996 Usenet message ↗ — even the poster questioned the attribution.

The truth: an anonymous adage that evolved over decades and was popularized by mediator Cyrus S. Ching in 1948 — not Shaw, Twain, or Lincoln ↗.

Context

Why it sticks to Shaw

The line is a perfect “quotation superstar” magnet: witty, worldly, and faintly cynical — exactly the register readers associate with George Bernard Shaw. That plausibility is precisely why it drifted onto his name in the internet era, with no source behind it.

The real history is more democratic. As Quote Investigator documents, the saying was folk wisdom that sharpened over generations of retelling, its final comic beat — that the pig enjoys the fight — crystallizing by the 1940s and reaching a national audience through a genial labor mediator, not a celebrated playwright.

Witty, cynical, quotable — so it drifted onto Shaw. But the paper trail leads to an anonymous uncle and a 1948 magazine profile.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Wisdom Simplicity

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: Never Wrestle with a Pigquoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative investigation: full timeline, Ching's 1948 telling, and the conclusion that the Shaw/Twain/Lincoln ascriptions are unsupported.
George Bernard Shaw — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote's sourced/misattributed sections for Shaw, useful for cross-checking what he genuinely wrote versus popular fabrications.
Cyrus S. Ching — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the labor mediator who popularized the modern wording in 1948.
Goodreads: the Shaw-attributed wordinggoodreads.com

Shows how widely the exact 'I learned long ago…' wording circulates under Shaw's name online — the misattribution this page corrects.
BrainyQuote: Shaw attributionbrainyquote.com

A representative example of an unsourced quote site perpetuating the Shaw credit.

The documented popularizer

The man who actually made it famous

Cyrus Stuart Ching

1876–1967 · U.S. labor mediator · first head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

Cyrus Stuart Ching was a towering (6’7”) American industrial-relations expert who became the first director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in 1947. In a widely read 1948 Saturday Evening Post profile he told the pig story — but explicitly credited it to an unnamed uncle, never claiming it as his own. He is the great popularizer of the modern wording, not its author; the saying itself is anonymous folk wisdom.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Quote Investigator

Garson O'Toole (Quote Investigator), "Never Wrestle with a Pig. You Both Get Dirty and the Pig Likes It," July 8, 2017. Earliest documented telling of the popular form: profile of Cyrus Stuart Ching, Saturday Evening Post, 1948. The wording is an anonymous adage; the ascription to George Bernard Shaw is unsupported.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-learned-long-ago-never-to-wrestle-with-a-pig-you-get

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