P.T. Barnum Quotes
Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes
ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT
Source: P.T. Barnum
Speaker: P.T. Barnum
There's a sucker born every minute.
Context
This misquoted line is attributed to P.T. Barnum.
This quote is often attributed to Phineas Taylor Barnum, the Barnum of the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Allegedly, he's referring to his customer base, a group of people who would pay money to see captive animals and freak shows. What kind of business model is this—insulting the client base?
It's a bad business model, which is why there is no record of Barnum ever having actually said it. In fact, no one knows what the true origin of the quote is.
Where you've heard it
You've heard this when someone is sharing a clearly false "news" story on their Facebook timeline.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
This quote is pretentious in the sense that you imply you are not one of those suckers by using this quote; however, you are a sucker if you think P.T. Barnum said this.