Barnum Quotes & Sayings

I am indebted to the press of the United States for almost every dollar which I possess ... — P.T. Barnum

OLD GRIZZLY ADAMS. [37-*] James C. Adams, or "Grizzly Adams," as he was generally termed, from the fact of his having captured so many grizzly bears, and encountered such fearful perils by his unexampled daring, was an extraordinary character. For many years a hunter and trapper in the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains, he acquired a recklessness which, added to his natural invincible courage, rendered him truly one of the most striking men of the age. He was emphatically what the English call a man of "pluck." In 1860, he arrived in New York with his famous collection of California animals, captured by himself, consisting of twenty or thirty immense grizzly bears, at the head of which stood "Old Sampson" - now in the American Museum - wolves, half a dozen other species of bear, California lions, tigers, buffalo, elk, etc., and Old Neptune, the great sea-lion, from the Pacific. — P.T. Barnum

Every man's occupation should be beneficial to his fellow-man as well as profitable to himself. All else is vanity and folly. — P.T. Barnum

Instead of spending money, I earned it. — P.T. Barnum

P.T. Barnum said a sucker is born every minute, but his estimate was laughably low. — Jonathan Gruber

I never liked to work, I mean manual work. — P.T. Barnum

Witchcraft is one of the most baseless, absurd, disgusting and silly of all the humbugs. — P.T. Barnum

If I shoot at the sun, I may hit a star. — P.T. Barnum

He's scared, Zane."
"Well he should join the fucking club."
"Come on, Barnum"
"Ty, you are not the tiger whisperer," Zane hissed. — Madeleine Urban

Many people are gullible, and we can expect this to continue. — P.T. Barnum

Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business. Large stores, gilt signs, flaming advertisements, will all prove unavailing if you or your employees treat your patrons abruptly. The truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous will be the patronage bestowed upon him. — P.T. Barnum

I'm actually not a huge circus fan in the traditional sense, but I like a lot of the circus trappings of striped tents and caramel. I lean more towards Cirque du Soleil than Barnum and Bailey. — Erin Morgenstern

All in all, it was the goldarndest, Barnum-and-Baileyest, rib-stickinest, rough-and-tumblest infernal foofaraw of a media circus anybody had seen since grandpaw chased the possum down the road and lost his store teeth, and I was heartily sorry to have been a part of it. — John Varley

Let your motto then always be 'Excelsior', for by living up to it there is no such word as fail. — P.T. Barnum

At root, vulgar just means popular on a mass scale. It is the semantic opposite of pretentious or snobby. It is humility with a comb-over. It is Nielsen ratings and Barnum's axiom and the real bottom line. It is big, big business. — David Foster Wallace

I think it is conceded that I generally do pretty big things as a manager, am audacious in my outlays and risks, give much for little money, and make my shows worthy the support of the moral and refined classes. — P.T. Barnum

There is a fool born every minute — P.T. Barnum

There's no such thing as bad publicity, — P.T. Barnum

The orthodox faith painted God as a revengeful being, and yet people talk about loving such a being. — P.T. Barnum

I am prouder of my title 'The Children's Friend' than if I were to be called 'The King of the World'. — P.T. Barnum

Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience. — P.T. Barnum

Energy and patience in business are two indispensable elements of success. — P.T. Barnum

A salary was not sufficient for me. — P.T. Barnum

The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves. — P.T. Barnum

The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller. — P.T. Barnum

A lovely nook of forest scenery, or a grand rock, like a beautiful woman, depends for much of its attractiveness upon the attendance sense of freedom from whatever is low; upon a sense of purity and of romance. — P.T. Barnum

Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed. — P.T. Barnum

Money-getters are the benefactors of our race. To them ... are we indebted for our institutions of learning, and of art, our academies, colleges and churches. — P.T. Barnum

When if comes to ballyhoo, Muhammad Ali made Barnum and Bailey look like non-starters, and he had the incandescent quality of the real star which would have made him famous, even if his gift was knitting not fighting. — Michael Parkinson

You must exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying them out. — P.T. Barnum

In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race. — P.T. Barnum

America is full of businesses bearing old Christian names, but which are really owned and run by Jews. Most of them have been acquired in the manner I have just described, the way the Jew creates something out of nothing (slow strangling). The Jew, better than anyone else in the world knows how to dispossess the poor and the members of the middle classes. To fit this case, the old P.T. Barnum adage needs only a little changing. A gentile enters business every minute, with two Jews waiting to take him out of it. — Samuel Roth

Every crowd has a silver lining. — P.T. Barnum

Whatever you do, do it ardently. — P.T. Barnum

No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public. — P.T. Barnum

Your success depends on what you do yourself, with your own means — P.T. Barnum

There's a sucker born every minute. — P.T. Barnum

With the young man starting in business, let him understand the value of money by earning it. — P.T. Barnum

Dr. Franklin says it is the eyes of others and not our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were blind except myself I should not care for fine clothes or furniture. — P.T. Barnum

I risked much, but I made much. — P.T. Barnum

A penny here, and a dollar there, placed at interest, goes on accumulating, and in this way the desired result is attained. It requires some training, perhaps, to accomplish this economy, but when once used to it, you will find there is more satisfaction in rational saving than in irrational spending. — P.T. Barnum

If I was not a remarkably modest man, I should probably brag a little, and say that I had done what no American ever before accomplished by visiting the queen at her palace twice within eight days. — P.T. Barnum

Money is the excellent slave and a horrible master. — P.T. Barnum

I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right. — P.T. Barnum

If you hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before you and get the prize. — P.T. Barnum

I would rather hear the pleased laugh of a child over some feature of my exhibition than receive as I did the flattering compliments of the Prince of Wales. — P.T. Barnum

There's one born every minute. — P.T. Barnum

The show business has all phases and grades of dignity, from the exhibition of a monkey to the exposition of that highest art in music or the drama which secures for the gifted artists a world-wide fame princes well might envy. — P.T. Barnum

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now. The old proverb is full of truth and meaning, "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." Many a man acquires a fortune by doing his business thoroughly, while his neighbor remains poor for life, because he only half does it. Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business. Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself. — P.T. Barnum

As a general thing, I have not 'duped the world' nor attempted to do so ... I have generally given people the worth of their money twice told. — P.T. Barnum

Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity. — P.T. Barnum

Small does of advertising result in nothing, obviously. It's like giving a sick person half the medicine he needs. It just causes more suffering. Give the whole dose, and the cure will be certain and decisive. — P.T. Barnum

Gentle admonition." "Gentle admonition! Do you call that gentle admonition? Why, uncle, you are enough to frighten most people to death with your fury. You are a perfect dragon! a griffin! a Russian bear! a Bengal tiger! a Numidian lion! You're all Barnum's beasts in one! I declare, if I don't write and ask him to send a party down here to catch you for his museum! — E.D.E.N. Southworth

The bigger the humbug, the better people will like it. — P.T. Barnum

In the United States, where we have more land than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in good health to make money. — P.T. Barnum

Without publicity a terrible thing happens: nothing. — P.T. Barnum

Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done. — P.T. Barnum

To forgive heals the wound, to forget heals the scar. — P.T. Barnum

Never attempt to catch a whale with a minnow. — P.T. Barnum

He who is without a newspaper is cut off from his species. — P.T. Barnum

To me there is no picture so beautiful as smiling, bright-eyed, happy children; no music so sweet as their clear and ringing laughter. — P.T. Barnum

You know I had rather be laughed at than not to be noticed at all ... — P.T. Barnum

Science is the pursuit of pure truth, and the systematizing of it. — P.T. Barnum

True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress: live on plainer food if need be; so that, under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income. — P.T. Barnum

When a man is in the right path, he must persevere. — P.T. Barnum

Men, women, and children who cannot live on gravity alone need something to satisfy their gayer, lighter moods and hours, and he who ministers to this want is, in my opinion, in a business established by the Creator of our nature. If he worthily fulfills his mission and amuses without corrupting, he need never feel that he has lived in vain. — P.T. Barnum

The best-known definition of usability is the one from ISO, the International Organization for Standardization (9241-11): "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use. — Carol Barnum

Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung. — P.T. Barnum

There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. — P.T. Barnum

Constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it can be clinched. When a man's undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once. — P.T. Barnum

The wonders of the ages assembled for your edification, education and enjoyment - for a price. — P.T. Barnum

There is no class of people in the world, who have such good memories as creditors. — P.T. Barnum

Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd. — P.T. Barnum

Where do we have it? Do we do the whole nine yards or shorten the ceremony? Do we try to make it religious or keep it nondenominational? Do you have a best man or do you ask Annie to stand with you? Do we involve our families, make one of them travel? Does Chester get to put a corsage on his shovel? If we have to go to Texas, can I put Barnum in a bow tie and have him be the bouncer for the reception? — Abigail Roux

There is no greater picture than that of 10,000 smiling children. No brighter music than their clear-ringing laughter. That I, with my small amusements, have created such precious art is my life's proudest achievement. — P.T. Barnum

I'm better than P. T. Barnum and Colonel Parker put together. — Evel Knievel

You know, Sanger, Barnum may have said that it matters not what is said about you so long as it is said, but I am eloquent enough to knock that theory into a cocked hat should I be required to do so. — Val Andrews

But however mysterious is nature , however ignorant the doctor, however imperfect the present state of physical science , the patronage and the success of quacks and quackeries are infinitely more wonderful than those of honest and laborious men of science and their careful experiments. — P.T. Barnum

Since 1978 the record pretty well shows that no start-up airline ... has really been successful, so the odds of JetBlue having long-term success are remote. I'm not going to say it can't happen because stranger things have happened, but I personally believe P.T. Barnum was, in that respect, correct. — Gordon Bethune

I got into theatre kinda late by some standards, and I sorta fell into it. I had broken my ankle playing football, and my high school was doing a production of 'Barnum.' I could juggle, and my mom really wanted to get me out of the house. She said since I wasn't playing football and couldn't wrestle, maybe I should audition for the show. — Colin Donnell

The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity. — P.T. Barnum

What do you want?" he said to Passe-partout, whom he took for a native. "Do you need a servant, sir?" asked Passe-partout. "A servant!" echoed the Barnum, as he stroked his beard; "I have two, obedient and faithful, who have never left me, and serve me for nothing but nourishment; and here they are," he added, as he extended his brawny arms, on which the great veins stood out like whipcord. — Jules Verne

The possession of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in order to insure success. — P.T. Barnum

Advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land, - it largely increases the product. — P.T. Barnum

We cannot all see alike, but we can all do good. — P.T. Barnum

The noblest art is that of making others happy — P.T. Barnum

Politics and government are certainly among the most important of practical human interests. — P.T. Barnum

If you let Barnum & Bailey interpret a plot by Stendahl, it might come out to be something like the 1972 Democratic convention. — Gloria Steinem

No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. — P.T. Barnum

Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public. — P.T. Barnum

There's only been three giant promoters in our lifetime. There's Michael Todd, P.T. Barnum, and yours truly. — Don King

Every man should make his son or daughter learn some useful trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortunes of being rich today and poor tomorrow they may have something tangible to fall back upon. This provision might save many persons from misery, who by some unexpected turn of fortune have lost all their means. — P.T. Barnum

Books are made out of books." - Cormac McCarthy Brian Eno, A Year With Swollen Appendices Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From David Byrne, How Music Works Mike Monteiro, Design Is a Job Kio Stark, Don't Go Back to School Ian Svenonius, Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group Sidney Lumet, Making Movies P.T. Barnum, The Art of Money Getting — Austin Kleon

A deception arises, sometimes innocently but collaboratively, sometimes with cynical premeditation. Usually the victim is caught up in a powerful emotion - wonder, fear, greed, grief. Credulous acceptance of baloney can cost you money; that's what P.T. Barnum meant when he said, There's a sucker born every minute'. But it can be much more dangerous than that, and when governments and societies lose the capacity for critical thinking, the results can be catastrophic, however sympathetic we may be to those who have bought the baloney. — Carl Sagan

70,000 to 100,000 births; twins joined at the head occur only once in 2 to 2.5 million births. Siamese twins received their name because of the birthplace (Siam) of Chang and Eng (1811 - 1874) whom P.T. Barnum exhibited across America and Europe. Most cranio pagus Siamese twins die at birth or shortly afterward. So far as we know, not more than 50 attempts had previously been made to separate such twins. Of those, less than ten operations have resulted in two fully normal children. Aside from the skill of the operating surgeons, the success depends largely on how much and what kind of tissue the babies share. Occipital cranio pugus twins (such as the Binders) had never before been separated with both surviving. — Ben Carson

How were the receipts today in Madison Square Garden ? — P.T. Barnum

The plan of "counting the chickens before they are hatched" is an error of ancient date, but it does not seem to improve by age. — P.T. Barnum

Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed, or until you conclude to abandon it. A constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it can be clinched. — P.T. Barnum

More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing in nothing, than by believing too much. — P.T. Barnum

Do you want me to kill your father, Barnum? — Lars Saabye Christensen