P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnumwas an American politician, showman, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Although Barnum was also an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for some time a politician, he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me", and his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers". Barnum is widely, but erroneously, credited with coining the phrase "There's...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth5 July 1810
CityBethel, CT
CountryUnited States of America
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.
Your success depends on what you do yourself, with your own means
Let your motto then always be 'Excelsior', for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.
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.
No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story.
Instead of spending money, I earned it.
I am a showman by profession... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.
A salary was not sufficient for me.
I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.
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.
The bigger the humbug, the better people will like it.
The possession of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in order to insure success.
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.