Oscar Wilde? Success Magazine? Olin Miller? Anonymous?
Some people bring happiness wherever they go, and others whenever they leave.
This statement is usually attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde, but I am skeptical because I have never seen a good citation. Would you please trace this remark?
Quote Investigator: Oscar Wilde died in 1900, and QI has found no substantive evidence that he employed this saying.
The earliest close match found by QI appeared in “Success Magazine” in May 1908. The phrasing was a bit odd. The magazine printed a short item with the title “Others Whenever”:[1] 1908 May, Success Magazine, Volume 11, Pleasantry, Quote Page 303, Column 2, The Success Company, New York. (HathiTrust Full View) link
Others Whenever
Some people make happiness wherever they go.
The joke was presented with an inverted ordering, To decode the humor the reader must understand the sentence after the title and then reflect back on the meaning of the title. No attribution was given for the joke.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading Some Cause Happiness Wherever They Go; Others Whenever They Go