INTERNET LEGEND

Farmer From ‘It Ain’t Much, but It’s Honest Work’ Meme Dies in Crash

A remark Brandt made in 2012—“It ain’t much, but it’s honest work”—catapulted him into unintentional internet fame.

David Brandt, the Ohio farmer who spawned one of the internet’s most enduring memes, died on Sunday from injuries he experienced in a vehicle crash last week. Brandt, who was 76, became an unwitting internet icon for a remark he made at a Natural Resources Conservation Service event that took place on his farm in 2012. The quote—“It ain’t much, but it’s honest work”—became online shorthand for hard work and humility and was often deployed sarcastically. Brandt, a veteran of the Vietnam War, reportedly didn’t know what memes were until discovering that he had become one, but enjoyed it nonetheless, the Associated Press reported. He spent much of his life as an advocate for sustainable farming techniques, a passion he continued to pursue after obtaining internet notoriety. It may not have been much—but it was honest work.