To Get the Full Value of a Joy You Must Have Somebody To Divide It With

Mark Twain? Arthur T. Pierson? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: To experience a joyful event completely one should share it with others. I think Mark Twain made a point similar to this in his collection of sayings called “Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar”. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In 1897 Mark Twain released a travel book titled “Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World”, and the 48th chapter presented the following epigraph. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1897, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens), (Chapter 48 Epigraph), Quote Page 447, American Publishing Company, Hartford, Connecticut; Also Doubleday … Continue reading

Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with. —Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

The desirability of sharing joys was highlighted in the following piece of wisdom published in “The Homiletic Review” in 1887 within an article titled “Gems and Curiosities from a Literary Cabinet” by Reverend Arthur T. Pierson:^[2]1887 June, The Homiletic Review, Volume 13, Number 6, Gems and Curiosities from a Literary Cabinet by Reverend Arthur T. Pierson, Start Page 496, Quote Page 496, Funk & Wagnalls, New York. … Continue reading

Love’s arithmetic. Joys shared are added and multiplied; griefs shared are subtracted and divided.

In 1897 Mark Twain published “Following the Equator” which contained the saying under examination as stated earlier.

In 1899 the biography “George Müller of Bristol” by Arthur T. Pierson contained an anonymous shortened version of the 1887 saying:^[3] 1899, George Müller of Bristol by Arthur T. Pierson, Chapter 11: Trials Of Faith, and Helpers To Faith, Quote Page 154, James Nisbet & Company, London. (Google Books Full View) link

And it has been beautifully said of all holy partnerships, that griefs shared are divided, and joys shared are multiplied.

In 1948 “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips” compiled by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger included an entry for the quotation. The word “the” was omitted before the word “full”:^[4] 1948, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips, Compiled by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Topic: Joys, Quote Page 218, Cloud, Inc., Beechhurst Press, Inc., New York. (Verified on paper)

Grief can take care of itself; but to get full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
P. 138—Following the Equator, Chapt. XII, Vol. II, “Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar”

In 1968 the quotation appeared in the 14th edition of “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations”.^[5]1968, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett, Edited by Emily Morison Beck, Fourteenth Edition, Quote Page 763, Column 1, Published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. … Continue reading

In 1971 the quotation appeared in “Bartlett’s Unfamiliar Quotations” compiled by Leonard Louis Levinson.^[6] 1971, Bartlett’s Unfamiliar Quotations, Compiled by Leonard Louis Levinson, Topic: Happiness, Quote Page 123, Cowles Book Company: Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans)

In conclusion, Mark Twain deserves credit for the statement he wrote as a chapter epigraph in “Following the Equator” in 1997. Twain ascribed the words to “Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar”.

Image Notes: Public domain illustration depicting Mark Twain with birds from the 1897 edition of “Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World” by Mark Twain. Image from page 355 has been cropped, resized, and retouched.