P. T. Barnum Quotes - Page 3

The truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous will be the patronage bestowed upon him.

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

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.

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

Many persons are always kept poor, because they are too visionary. Every project looks to them like certain successes, and therefore they keep changing from one business to another, always in hot water, always ‘under the harrow’.

Never attempt to catch a whale with a minnow.

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.

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

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.

There is no such thing in the world as luck. There never was a man who could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold in the street to-day, and another to-morrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so once in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable to lose it as to find it.

I risked much, but I made much.

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

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

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.

I am prouder of my title 'The Children's Friend' than if I were to be called 'The King of the World'.

Instead of spending money, I earned it.

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

A salary was not sufficient for me.

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

Advertising is like learning - a little is a dangerous thing. If a man has not the pluck to keep on advertising, all the money he has already spent is lost.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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