“Retirement kills more men/people/persons than hard work ever did” is a saying that has been printed on many images. Many people don’t stay active after retirement, don’t have goals and then don’t live long.
   
“Retirement kills more men than hard work” was printed in the San Bernardino (CA) Daily Sun on March 14, 1926. “Retirement kills more people than hard work” was printed in an Associated Press story in the Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel-News and many other newspapers on October 14, 1951. The remark was made by California State Mental Hygiene Director Frank Tallman, who said “Man is a working creature” and ‘Retirement is one of the greatest dangers facing our senior citizens.” “PASADENA, Calif.—(AP)—A lot of oldsters here are convinced that retirement kills more persons than hard work” was printed in the Lebanon (PA) Daily News and many other newspapers on January 30, 1952.
   
American entrepreneur and Forbes magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) has been credited with the saying since the early 1980s, but he didn’t say it first.
 
   
Newspapers.com   
14 March 1926, San Bernardino (CA) Daily Sun, “News & Views” by R. C. H., pg. 1, col. 1:
Retirement kills more men than hard work.
 
Newspapers.com
14 October 1951, Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel-News, pg. 7, col. 6:
Retirement Kills More Men Than Hard WOrk, Says Mental Hygiene Director
Sacramento, Oct. 4 (AP)—Retirement kills more people than hard work.
 
That’s the contention of State Mental Hygiene Director Frank Tallman.
 
‘Retirement is one of the greatest dangers facing our senior citizens,” says Tallman, in discussing the California conference on the problems of the aging, to be held here October 15 and 16.
 
“Man is a working creature,” says Tallman, and instead of retirement, he should be given something to keep him busy.
   
Newspapers.com
30 January 1952, Lebanon (PA) Daily News, “Retirement Killer For Elderly Folks,” pg. 12, col. 2:
PASADENA, Calif.—(AP)—A lot of oldsters here are convinced that retirement kills more persons than hard work.
   
Google Books
The Investment Dealers’ Digest
Volume 18, Issues 18-25
1952
Pg. 23:
Who was it who said ‘retirement kills more men than disease.’
     
Google Books
Forbes
Volume 132, Issues 1-7
1983
Pg. 188:
RETIREMENT kills more people than old age.
   
Google Books
Forbes
Volume 133, Issues 6-10
1984
Pg. 222:
Goodlife: You once said that retirement kills more people than does middle age. People live longer and retire earlier. How well do you think people use their leisure time?
MSF: What I was referring to basically is that busy business types find it hard to shift to low gear—not having a secretary, not having buttons to push to get things done.
 
Google Books
Search:
A guide for those who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful
By James J. Kavanaugh
San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row
1985
Pg. 96:
TRANSITIONS AND SUPPORT It is almost a cliche that retirement kills more people than work and that serious depression can result from suddenly not being needed.
   
Newspapers.com
2 May 1991, The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), “Boosting Your Retirement Health” by Joy Reed Belt, CareLine sec., pg. 6, col. 3:
The late Malcolm Forbes said, “Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did.”
   
Google Books
Speaker’s Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor
By Joe Griffith
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
2000
Pg. 309:
It’s a lot like working for the government. Malcolm S. Forbes, former chairman and editor in chief of Forbes magazine said, “Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did.”
 
Twitter
Paul Williams
@Paul_O_Williams
Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did. ~ Malcolm Forbes
7:15 AM · Nov 4, 2019·Hootsuite Inc.