P.T. Barnum Quotes & Sayings

#1. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt.

P.T. Barnum

#2. No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story.

P.T. Barnum

#3. Without promotion, something terrible happens ... nothing!

P.T. Barnum

#4. The orthodox faith painted God as a revengeful being, and yet people talk about loving such a being.

P.T. Barnum

#5. The wonders of the ages assembled for your edification, education and enjoyment - for a price.

P.T. Barnum

#6. You must exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying them out.

P.T. Barnum

#7. With the young man starting in business, let him understand the value of money by earning it.

P.T. Barnum

#8. 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

#9. I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.

P.T. Barnum

#10. 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

#11. No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless he learns it by personal application and experience.

P.T. Barnum

#12. Never attempt to catch a whale with a minnow.

P.T. Barnum

#13. If you hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before you and get the prize.

P.T. Barnum

#14. 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

#15. You know I had rather be laughed at than not to be noticed at all ...

P.T. Barnum

#16. 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

#17. Many people are gullible, and we can expect this to continue.

P.T. Barnum

#18. I am indebted to the press of the United States for almost every dollar which I possess ...

P.T. Barnum

#19. 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

#20. I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.

P.T. Barnum

#21. Science is the pursuit of pure truth, and the systematizing of it.

P.T. Barnum

#22. The possession of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in order to insure success.

P.T. Barnum

#23. We cannot all see alike, but we can all do good.

P.T. Barnum

#24. Energy and patience in business are two indispensable elements of success.

P.T. Barnum

#25. 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

#26. There's no such thing as bad publicity,

P.T. Barnum

#27. 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

#28. In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race.

P.T. Barnum

#29. I never liked to work, I mean manual work.

P.T. Barnum

#30. Medicine is the means by which we poor feeble creatures try to keep from dying or aching.

P.T. Barnum

#31. Without publicity a terrible thing happens: nothing.

P.T. Barnum

#32. There is no class of people in the world, who have such good memories as creditors.

P.T. Barnum

#33. There's one born every minute.

P.T. Barnum

#34. 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

#35. 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

#36. The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves.

P.T. Barnum

#37. 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

#38. The bigger the humbug, the better people will like it.

P.T. Barnum

#39. 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

#40. When a man is in the right path, he must persevere.

P.T. Barnum

#41. He who is without a newspaper is cut off from his species.

P.T. Barnum

#42. Advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land, - it largely increases the product.

P.T. Barnum

#43. There is a fool born every minute

P.T. Barnum

#44. How were the receipts today in Madison Square Garden ?

P.T. Barnum

#45. Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity.

P.T. Barnum

#46. Your success depends on what you do yourself, with your own means

P.T. Barnum

#47. 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

#48. Let your motto then always be 'Excelsior', for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.

P.T. Barnum

#49. 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

#50. Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.

P.T. Barnum

#51. The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.

P.T. Barnum

#52. 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

#53. No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public.

P.T. Barnum

#54. 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

#55. 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

#56. More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing in nothing, than by believing too much.

P.T. Barnum

#57. 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

#58. Witchcraft is one of the most baseless, absurd, disgusting and silly of all the humbugs.

P.T. Barnum

#59. Whatever you do, do it ardently.

P.T. Barnum

#60. Instead of spending money, I earned it.

P.T. Barnum

#61. Money is the excellent slave and a horrible master.

P.T. Barnum

#62. Every crowd has a silver lining.

P.T. Barnum

#63. Politics and government are certainly among the most important of practical human interests.

P.T. Barnum

#64. I risked much, but I made much.

P.T. Barnum

#65. 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

#66. To forgive heals the wound, to forget heals the scar.

P.T. Barnum

#67. The safest plan, and the one most sure of success for the young man starting in life, is to select the vocation which is most congenial to his tastes.

P.T. Barnum

#68. 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

#69. Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience.

P.T. Barnum

#70. 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

#71. 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