To laugh often and much; … This is to have succeeded.

Quote Investigator distinguishes two overlapping texts: Stanley’s 1905 essay and a substantially altered version printed by Albert Edward Wiggam in 1951 as an alleged abridgment of Emerson, without a work citation. Ann Landers printed the modern opening in 1966 with an Emerson credit. Who adapted the essay is unresolved. The held English Essays: First Series was searched for “laugh often,” “breathed easier” and “have succeeded”; the circulating definition was not found. This limited search does not cover all Emerson. The historical newspaper evidence below is secondary, through Quote Investigator; no original newspaper page was viewed.

1. 11 December 1905Before it · credited to Bessie A. StanleyA Kansas newspaper reprints Stanley’s prize-winning essay; this is an antecedent, not the complete modern text.Bessie A. Stanley’s prize-winning definition of success, reprinted in “Success Is Service,” Emporia Gazette (11 December 1905), 2, column 1. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
2. 30 October 1951Credited to Ralph Waldo EmersonWiggam prints a substantially altered text as an abridgment of Emerson; this is the earliest Emerson credit found by Quote Investigator.Albert Edward Wiggam, “Let’s Explore Your Mind,” San Diego Union (30 October 1951), a-4, column 3. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
3. 16 April 1966Reworded · credited to Ralph Waldo EmersonLanders prints the opening used in the circulating form and again credits Emerson.Ann Landers, “Ann Landers’ Advice: Wedlock Deadlock – Love Or Money,” The Hartford Courant (16 April 1966), 8. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source

The piece circulates as Emerson’s definition of success. It combines personal enjoyment, other people’s regard and leaving others better off. The modern text overlaps with, but is not identical to, Bessie A. Stanley’s prize-winning 1905 essay.

Success consists in human relationships, appreciation and a beneficial effect on other lives, rather than only money or public achievement.

Simply replacing Emerson’s name with Stanley’s would also overstate the evidence for this wording. Her essay is the documented antecedent, but the later version changes and adds material.

Life, Happiness, Wisdom

• The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are. (not found) Carl Gustav Jung
• When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. (misattributed) Marcus Aurelius
• A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. (misattributed) Maya Angelou
• Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. (misattributed) Mark Twain
• Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. (not found) Seneca the Younger

• quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/26/define-success
• en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson#Misattributed

“To laugh often and much; … This is to have succeeded.” Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. No. Not a sourced Emerson quotation. The modern piece adapts Bessie A. Stanley’s 1905 essay; an altered version was credited to Emerson in 1951, but its adapter is unidentified. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/to-laugh-often-and-much/ (checked 22 October 2026).

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