The proverbial saying ‘bad news travels fast’ can be taken literally. In a wider sense it is a comment on human nature being more interested in failure than success.

‘Bad news travels fast’ is first found in print in the English author Thomas Kyd’s tragedic play The Spanish Tragedy, which was written sometime between 1582 and 1592. It includes these lines:

If he lived, the news would soon be here.
Nay, evil news fly faster still than good