American author Elbert Hubbard (1855-1915) wrote in 1904:
 
“Usually no man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.”
 
Hubbard wrote again in The Cosmpolitan in February 1905:
 
“As a matter of recuperation the vacation does not recuperate, since, as a rule, no man needs a vacation so much as a man who has just had one.”
 
The line is not entirely original with Hubbard. “I don’t know of anybody who needs a holiday more than the man who has just had one” was cited in print in 1890. “This is the time of year when the man who takes a week off to rest realizes the truth of the saying that the man who most needs a vacation is the man who has just had one” was cited in print in a September 1903 newspaper.
 
   
Wikipedia: Elbert Hubbard
Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he met early success as a traveling salesman with the Larkin soap company. Today Hubbard is mostly known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an influential exponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Among his many publications were the nine-volume work Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great and the short story A Message to Garcia. He and his second wife, Alice Moore Hubbard, died aboard the RMS Lusitania, which was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915.
 
Chronicling America
23 June 1890, The Evening World (New York, NY), pg. 3, col. 5:
Happy Thought; Well Expressed.
[From Chatter.]
A Decoration Day parade, returning home in the evening, was met by a friend.
“How do you feel?” inquired the friend.
“Rocky, awful; I don’t know of anybody who needs a holiday more than the man who has just had one.”
 
8 September 1903, Coshocton (OH) Democrat and Standard, pg. 4, col. 2:
This is the time of year when the man who takes a week off to rest realizes the truth of the saying that the man who most needs a vacation is the man who has just had one.
 
Google Books
This Then Is Consecrated Lives:
Being Essays
By Elbert Hubbard
East Aurora, NY: Done into a printed book by the Roycrofters at their shop in East Aurora, New York, U.S.A.
1904
Pg. 37:
Usually no man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.
     
Google Books
February 1905, The Cosmopolitan, “Vacations and Health” by Elbert Hubbard, pg. 485, col. 1:
As a matter of recuperation the vacation does not recuperate, since, as a rule, no man needs a vacation so much as a man who has just had one.
 
Google Books
October 1905, The Philistine, pg. 152:
As a matter of recuperation the vacation does not recuperate, since as a rule, no man needs a vacation so much as a man who has just had one.
 
12 September 1909, Trenton (NJ) Sunday Advertiser, “Do You Need A Vacation On Your Return From One?”, pg. 25, col. 4:
Some one has said something to the effect that no one needs a vacation so much as she who has just returned from one.
 
Chronicling America
1 August 1913, Kennewick (WA) Courier, pg. 2, col. 2:
“NO ONE needs a vacation so much as he who has just got back.”
 
Google Books
Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard
Edited by Elbert Hubbard II
New York, NY: Wm. H. Wise & Co.
1922
Pg. 230:
As a matter of recuperation the vacation does not recuperate, since as a rule, no man needs a vacation so much as a man who has just had one.
 
16 August 1928, Joplin (MO) Globe, “Vacations and What” (editorial), pg. 6, col. 1:
The ancient saying that no one needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one may be putting it a little strong, but it is true that a good many vacations aren’t restful.
 
22 July 1962, Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune, “Radio-TV Gag Bag” by Larry Wolters, pg. D33:
Edgar W. Hubbard: “No one needs a vacation so much as a person who has just had one.”
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners:
Over 10,000 Gems of Wit and Wisdom, One-liners and Wisecracks
Edited by Geoff Tibballs
New York, NY: Carroll & Graff
2004
Pg. 544:
No one needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
ELBERT HUBBARD
 
Google Books
Dim Wit:
The Stupidest Quotes of All Time
By Rosemarie Jarski\
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2010
Pg. 196:
No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
Elbert Hubbard