“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking” is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images. New York City-based syndicated entertainment columnist Earl Wilson (1907-1987) included the saying in his column on June 3, 1959.
Earl Wilson usually got his “Earl’s Pearls” quips from others, but no one was credited for this quotation.
Wikipedia: Earl Wilson (columnist)
Earl Wilson (May 3, 1907 – January 16, 1987), born Harvey Earl Wilson, was an American journalist, gossip columnist, and author, perhaps best known for his 6-day a week nationally syndicated newspaper column, It Happened Last Night.
3 June 1959, Winona (MN) Daily News, “It Happened Last Night” by Earl Wilson, pg. 4, col. 5:
EARL’S PEARLS…A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.
19 May 1967, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “At Random” by Harold V. Cohen, pg. 14, col. 2:
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.
Google Books
The Joke Teller’s Handbook:
Or, 1,999 Belly Laughs
By Robert Orben
Los Angeles, CA: Wilshire Book Company
1976
Pg. 193:
You know what a vacation is. That’s what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking all along.
Twitter
That guy in Denver
@Watrfrnt
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. - Earl Wilson
9:31 PM - 3 May 2007
Google Books
Peace in the Face of Cancer
By Lynn Eib
Carol Stream, IL: Tynedale Mainstream
2017
Pg. 169:
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.
EARL WILSON, syndicated newspaper columnist
Google Books
The Happy Traveler:
Unpacking the Secrets of Better Vacations
By Jaime Kurtz
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2017
Pg. ?:
Or as journalist Earl Wilson put it, “A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.”
Twitter
Johanna Hussey
@Jollelol
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. - Earl Wilson
8:05 AM - 19 Jul 2018