Best P.T. Barnum Quotes

P.T. Barnum Quotes About Fool, Atlantis, Greatest Showman, Publicity, Intelligence, Truth, Money, Success & Art! P.T. Barnum became one of the most famous individuals, which delighted millions of people with his odd but funny showmanship. He was born on July 5, 1810. While he was a child, he would attend the Bethel congregational church and participate in prayer meetings. The Universalist Church in Danbury, Connecticut, employed him as a clerk for a brief time. He also gave speeches on Christian Universalism at Universalist conventions.

In 1835, he traveled to New York and launched his career as a showman by forming ‘Barnum’s Grand Scientific and Musical Theater,’ his first ‘variety group.’ He purchased the Scudder’s American Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Ann Street in New York City In 1841  and changed its name to “Barnum’s American Museum,” where he made the bulk of his first-ever wealth. He hired the first ‘Fu-Hum-Me’ dancers in 1843, making history as the first showman to do so. These dancers were always able to draw a large crowd to their performances.

T. Barnum and William Cameron Coup founded ‘P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome’ in 1871. At the time, it was regarded as the largest circus in the United States of America. His ‘Barnum & Bailey Circus held a three-ring show called ‘The Greatest Show on Earth,’ regarded as the world’s largest circus.

An American publication placed him at number 67 on their list of the “100 most influential persons.” April 7, 1891, was the date of his death. People from various areas of life frequently reference his work, shows, thoughts, and writings.

Best P.T. Barnum Quotes

1. “Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.” ― P. T. Barnum

2. “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

3. “Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get ill, yet we find many a young man, hardly out of his ‘teens,’ running in debt. He meets a chum and says, Look at this: I have got trusted for a new suit of clothes. He seems to look upon the clothes as so much given to him; well, it frequently is so, but if he succeeds in paying and then gets trusted again, he is adopting a habit which will keep him in poverty through life. Debt robs a man of his self-respect and makes him almost despise himself.” ― P. T. Barnum

4. “Money is, in some respects, like fire. It is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.” ― P. T. Barnum

5. “Fortune always favors the brave and never helps a man who does not help himself.” ― P. T. Barnum

6. “The history of money-getting, which is commerce, is a history of civilization, and wherever trade has flourished most, there, too, have art and science produced the noblest fruits. In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race. To them, in a great measure, are we indebted for our institutions of learning and of art, our academies, colleges, and churches?” ― P. T. Barnum

7. “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.” ― P. T. Barnum

8. “Remember the proverb of Solomon: He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” ― P. T. Barnum

9. “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

10. “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

11. “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.” ― P. T. Barnum

12. “Comfort is the enemy of progress.” ― P. T. Barnum

13. “The possession of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in order to ensure success.” ― P. T. Barnum

14. “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

15. “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

16. “Let your motto then always be ‘Excelsior’, for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.” ― P. T. Barnum

17. “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

18. “Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung.” ― P. T. Barnum

19. “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

20. “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

21. “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” ― P. T. Barnum

22. “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.” ― P. T. Barnum

23. “Be cautious and bold.” ― P. T. Barnum

24. “Advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land – it largely increases the product.” ― P. T. Barnum

25. “I will loose my camel, and trust it to God!” ― P. T. Barnum

26. “Writing lives forever, while you may not.” ― P. T. Barnum

27. “Exposing an illusion is not the same as revealing a truth.” ― P. T. Barnum

28. “We agreed that many a human life is sacrificed in sudden anger because one or both the parties carry deadly weapons.” ― P. T. Barnum

29. “The public very properly shun all whose integrity is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man may be, none of us dare to deal with him if we suspect ‘false weights and measures.’” ― P. T. Barnum

30. “Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity.” ― P. T. Barnum