To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded
Not Ralph Waldo Emerson — actually Bessie Anderson StanleyBessie Anderson Stanley1879–1952 · American essayist; author of the 1904 prize essay on success
This is not Emerson — the line appears nowhere in his works. It is a loosely reworded descendant of a roughly 100-word essay by Bessie Anderson Stanley that won a magazine contest defining success in 1904 and was printed in the Emporia Gazette on 11 December 1905. Stanley wrote “He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much…”; the smoother “To laugh often and much… This is to have succeeded” wording that carries Emerson’s name is an altered version that columnist Albert Edward Wiggam credited to Emerson in 1951 ↗, without a source.
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded” Not Ralph Waldo Emerson. This "definition of success" derives from Bessie Anderson Stanley's prize-winning 1904 essay (printed in the Emporia Gazette, 1905); the Emerson-credited wording is a later paraphrase popularized by columnist Albert Edward Wiggam in 1951.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Use the credit shown above instead.
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In context
Evoking the world of Bessie Anderson Stanley — American essayist · Lincoln, Kansas. Theme: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded". 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.
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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded". 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 it really comes from
Original author
Bessie Anderson Stanley (Caroline Elizabeth Anderson Stanley)
Original essay
“What Constitutes Success?” (often reprinted as “Success”)
Written / published
Written 1904 for a contest; printed in the Emporia Gazette, 11 December 1905
“Emerson” version
An altered abridgment credited to Emerson by columnist Albert Edward Wiggam, 1951
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.
Stanley’s original prize essay. Compare the popular “Emerson” text (“To laugh often and much… To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded”) — a later paraphrase, not Stanley’s exact words and not Emerson’s at all.
Quote Investigator ↗ traces the essay to Bessie A. Stanley of Lincoln, Kansas, whose entry won a “What Constitutes Success?” contest and was printed in the Emporia Gazette on 11 December 1905.
Per QI, the Emerson attribution begins with syndicated columnist Albert Edward Wiggam, who published an altered version of Stanley’s essay as Emerson’s words in 1951, citing no source ↗.
Wikipedia ↗ records Stanley (1879–1952) as the author, notes the $250 first prize, and confirms the piece is “often incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson or Robert Louis Stevenson.”
WIST Quotations ↗ files it under Emerson “Misattributed,” noting it “has not been found in his work” and pointing to Stanley’s 1905 essay.
Stanley’s underlying 1904/1905 essay is old enough to be public domain in the U.S., but the exact wording shown here is not Stanley’s original text — it is the reworded “Emerson” version that first surfaced in a 1951 newspaper column. Because that specific paraphrase’s wording has no clean, single authorship or first-publication record, we assert no copyright status for it.
Fact-check
How Emerson got the credit
This is one of the internet’s most persistent fake Emerson quotes. The thought is Bessie Anderson Stanley’s; the wording is a later paraphrase; the Emerson name was simply attached to it decades after she wrote it.
✕
The exact wording shownAttributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson Misattributed
The line appears in none of Emerson’s essays, poems, letters, or journals. Reference works file it under Emerson misattributions, noting it “has not been found in his work” (WIST ↗).
✕
Occasionally credited toRobert Louis Stevenson Also wrong
Some versions swap in Stevenson’s name; there is likewise no source for it in his writings (Wikipedia ↗).
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Who spread the Emerson labelAlbert Edward Wiggam (1951), later Ann Landers Vector
Per Quote Investigator ↗, columnist Wiggam printed an altered version as Emerson’s words in 1951 with no source; advice columnist Ann Landers repeated the Emerson credit in the 1960s before it was corrected.
✓The real author is Bessie Anderson Stanley, whose 1904 prize essay defining success was reworded and then falsely stamped with Emerson’s name from 1951 onward (Quote Investigator ↗).
Context
Why this one sticks to Emerson
Emerson is a magnet for uplifting, unsourced aphorisms: a high-minded 19th-century American sage is a plausible-sounding home for almost any noble sentiment about self-reliance, nature, or success. That plausibility is exactly what lets a fabricated attribution spread unchecked.
In reality the passage began as an ordinary reader’s contest entry. Stanley answered “What constitutes success?” in about a hundred words, won a cash prize, and saw her paragraph reprinted, reworded, and eventually handed to Emerson — a reminder that a beloved quote’s true author is often far more modest than its famous byline.
The thought is Bessie Anderson Stanley’s. Only the byline is Emerson’s.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Caroline Elizabeth “Bessie” Anderson Stanley (1879–1952) was an American homemaker and writer from Lincoln, Kansas. In 1904 she entered a magazine contest asking readers to define success in about a hundred words; her entry won first prize and was reprinted in the Emporia Gazette in 1905 and later in the anthology More Heart Throbs (1911). Her short paragraph on success went on to be widely reworded and, from 1951, misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary source
Bessie Anderson Stanley, “What Constitutes Success?” (prize essay, 1904), Emporia Gazette, 11 December 1905; repr. in More Heart Throbs, vol. 2 (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1911), 1–2. Emerson attribution traced to Albert Edward Wiggam’s syndicated column, 1951.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/to-laugh-often-and-much-to-win-the-respect-of-intelligent