There's a sucker born every minute

"[1] Some reference books, such as The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations,[2] claim that the originator was not Barnum, but probably the famous con man Joseph "Paper Collar Joe" Bessimer.

In an 1879 article entitled "Gambling in Chicago", an "old-timer" says about the struggles of hard-up gamblers: "[G]oodness knows how they live, it's mighty hard times with the most of them; in the season they make a bit on base ball, or on the races, and then, you know, 'there's a sucker born every minute'.

According to Herbert Asbury's book Gem of the Prairie (1940), McDonald was equipping his new gambling house, known as "The Store", when his partner wondered if they could lure enough players for the large number of roulette wheels and faro tables being installed.

[10] The author writes:It was always a saying with Joe that there was a sucker born every minute, and all through his business career he acted on that basis, and generally found a good crop of them.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4 episode 13 ("Devil's Due"), Captain Jean-Luc Picard mentions "There's a sucker born every minute" as he explores the possibility of a con artist at work, and Lieutenant Commander Data attributes the phrase to P. T. Barnum.