P. T. Barnum Quotes - Page 2

Every crowd has a silver lining.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

Advertising is like learning - a little is a dangerous thing.

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.

Without promotion, something terrible happens... nothing!

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

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

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.

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.

If I shoot at the sun, I may hit a star.

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

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.

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.

Money is the excellent slave and a horrible master.

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.

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.

Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.

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

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.

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