Photos
Quotes
-
P.T. Barnum : [from trailer] No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.
-
Phillip Carlyle : They come to see you... *Your* crazy ideas, *your* new acts. The unusual...
P.T. Barnum : Well then how about you show them a smile? That'd be unusual.
-
P.T. Barnum : Hyperbole isn't the worst crime. Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.
-
Phillip Carlyle : I can't just run off and join the circus.
P.T. Barnum : Why not? You clearly have a flair for show business.
-
P.T. Barnum : [singing] Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for/Been searching in the dark, your sweat soakin' through the floor/And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore/Taking your breath, stealing your mind/And all that was real is left behind...
-
P.T. Barnum : Trust me, they don't know it yet, but they're going to love you.
-
P.T. Barnum : P. T. Barnum, at your service.
[shakes Tom's hand, then gets down on his knee to his height]
P.T. Barnum : I am putting together a show, and I need a star.
Tom Thumb : You want people to laugh at me.
P.T. Barnum : [smiling] Well they're laughing anyway, kid, so you might as well get paid.
-
P.T. Barnum : Hey sweetie, who's that young man over there?
Charity Barnum : Oh that's Phillip Carlyle. A bit of a scandal, they say. His last play was a hit in London.
P.T. Barnum : Play? Pay good money to watch people stand around and talk for two hours and they call *me* a conman.
-
P.T. Barnum : [hands Phillip his top hat] This is for you.
Phillip Carlyle : What will *you* be doing?
P.T. Barnum : Watch my girls grow up. The show must go on.
-
P.T. Barnum : Where is that singing coming from?
[Barnum spots Lettie behind a curtain. She stops singing]
P.T. Barnum : Ma'am, you are...
[he pulls the curtain back, revealing Lettie's bearded face. Barnum pauses]
Lettie Lutz : You need to leave, sir.
P.T. Barnum : You are beautiful. You are unique.
-
James Gordon Bennett : I never liked your show, but I always thought the people did
P.T. Barnum : They did. They do!
James Gordon Bennett : Putting people of all Shapes, Sizes, Colours. Putting them on stage together and presenting them as equals, another critic might have even called it a celebration of humanity.
P.T. Barnum : I would've liked that.
-
James Gordon Bennett : Tell me, Mr. Barnum, does it bother you that everything you're selling is fake?
P.T. Barnum : Do these smiles seem fake? It doesn't matter where they come from. The joy is real.
James Gordon Bennett : So you are a philanthropist?
P.T. Barnum : Well, hyperbole isn't the worst crime. Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.
James Gordon Bennett : The creed of a true fraud.
P.T. Barnum : Mr Bennett, when was the last time you smiled? Or had a good laugh? A real laugh. A theater critic who can't find joy in the theater. Now who is the fraud?
-
P.T. Barnum : My father was treated like dirt. I was treated like dirt. My children won't be.
-
Jenny Lind : You are the American. I believe I might have heard of you.
P.T. Barnum : Oh well, If you've heard of me all the way over here, I must have been doing something right.
Jenny Lind : That, or something very wrong.
P.T. Barnum : In the world of publicity there is hardly any difference.
Jenny Lind : I believe those are the words of a scoundrel, Mr Barnum.
P.T. Barnum : A showman, Miss Lind, just a showman. The best on my side of the Atlantic.
-
[after Barnum becomes 50/50 partners with Phillip Calyle]
Phillip Carlyle : The only thing is I don't know how we are ever going to afford a building.
P.T. Barnum : Right.
[Long and deep sigh]
P.T. Barnum : We don't need a building. Real estate in Manhattan is a terrible investment. Why, I can get land down by the docks for almost nothing. All we need is a tent!
-
Charity Barnum : [seeing the house Phineas bought for them] Don't tell me bought this house just to rub my parents' noses in your success.
P.T. Barnum : Well, that wasn't the only reason. This is the life I promised you.
-
P.T. Barnum : I can't fool the bank into loaning me more money, so... I'm really sorry to disappoint you all.
Tom Thumb : Don't worry, Barnum. We've gotten used to it by now.
-
P.T. Barnum : [last-credits] The noblest art is that of making others happy
-
P.T. Barnum : Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.
-
P.T. Barnum : [seeing Jenny for the first time] Who's that?
Phillip Carlyle : The opera singer?
P.T. Barnum : Singer, huh?
Phillip Carlyle : She's the most famous performer in all of Europe. She sold out La Scala a dozen times. Not to mention the French Opera.
P.T. Barnum : Ah.
[he grabs Phillip's arm and leads him forward]
Phillip Carlyle : What are you doing?
P.T. Barnum : Following you, so you can introduce me to Ms. Lynd.
Phillip Carlyle : Introduce you?
P.T. Barnum : Yeah.
Phillip Carlyle : I don't know her.
P.T. Barnum : Everybody knows her. You just said so yourself.
Phillip Carlyle : Yeah, exactly. You don't just march up to someone like this.
P.T. Barnum : Why not? We're personable. She's a person.
-
Mr. O'Malley : [showing Phineas one of Bennett's reviews] This is bad.
P.T. Barnum : "Criminal". "Degrading". "A circus". I like "circus".
