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Well, that was the oft-repeated reputation, but if you read the series, I explain about his background.

Also, I address the fact that P.T. Barnum is often quoted as saying “There's a sucker born every minute”, but “there is no evidence that he said it.”

In fact, this quote from his own book looks like he believed the contrary!

Perhaps he did con people and changed his ways in his old age, the time he wrote this book.

It would be easier to say to do good once you have made a fortune rather than before, but I would like to think given the misrepresentation of his above quote and the wisdom he shares that perhaps the conman title may be misattributed. But perhaps he was prone to hyperbole and that has a tendency to be misunderstood.

Who knows....