“While there’s tea, there’s hope”

“Where there’s tea, there’s hope” is a saying that has been printed on any gift items, such as T-shirts, posters and cups. The original saying—“while there is tea, there is hope”—appeared in the play Sweet Lavender (1888) by Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934).
 
   
Wikipedia: Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 1855 – 23 November 1934) was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.
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In Pinero’s 1888 play Sweet Lavender, which was so popular that it ran for an extraordinary (for the time), 683 performances, the character Horace utters the famous line, “While there is tea, there is hope.”
     
Google Books
Sweet Lavender:
Founded Under Special Permission on the Celebrated Play by A. W. Pinero, Esq.
By Henry Llewellyn Williams
New York, NY: Hurst & Co., Publishers
1889
Pg. 46:
In English society,” he reflected to himself, “while there’s tea, there’s hope.”
 
Google Books
Sweet Lavender:
A Domestic Drama in Three Acts
By Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
London: William Heinemann
1903
Pg. 73:
HORACE.
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In English society while there is tea there is hope.
 
Google Books
Tea for Texas:
A Guide to Tearooms in the State
By Lori Torrance
Laham, MD: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
Pg. 3:
“Where there’s tea there’s hope.”
—Sir Arthur Pinero
 
Google Books
365 Things Every Tea Lover Should Know
By Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers
2008
Pg. 40:
Where there’s tea there’s hope.
SIR ARTHUR PINERO
   
Google Books
Tweet This Book:
The 1,400 Greatest Quotes of All Time in 140 Characters Or Less
Edited by Sayre Van Young and Marin Van Young
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2011
Pg. 69:
While there’s tea, there’s hope.
Arthur Wing Pinero