“Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.”

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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P.T. Barnum17

American showman and businessman 1810–1891

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“Both Barnum and H. L. Mencken are said to have made the depressing observation that no one ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the American public. The remark has worldwide application. But the lack is not in intelligence, which is in plentiful supply; rather, the scarce commodity is systematic training in critical thinking.”

Carl Sagan book Broca's Brain

Source: Broca's Brain (1979), Chapter 5, “Night Walkers and Mystery Mongers: Sense and Nonsense at the End of Science” (pp. 58-59)

“No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

'Notes On Journalism' http://books.google.com/books?id=52L2eI9mwlcC&q=&quot;No+one+in+this+world+so+far+as+I+know+and+I+have+searched+the+record+for+years+and+employed+agents+to+help+me+has+ever+lost+money+by+underestimating+the+intelligence+of+the+great+masses+of+the+plain+people&quot;&pg=PA28#v=onepage in the Chicago Tribune ( 19 September 1926 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1926/09/19/page/87/article/notes-on-journalism) <br class="br">The first sentence is often paraphrased as "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." (The Yale Book of Quotations, 2006, p. 512) <br class="br">1920s <br class="br">Source: Gist of Mencken

“Do not underestimate us Americans.”

Jimmy Carter (1924) American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981)

Post-Presidency, DNC address (2004)
Context: I am not discouraged. I really am not. I do not despair for our country. I never do. I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency and compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail.
And so I say to you and to others around the world, whether they wish us well or ill: Do not underestimate us Americans.

“You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public”

Scott Adams (1957) cartoonist, writer

“…the Americans must have the Almighty dollar.”

Théodore Guérin (1798–1856) Catholic saint and nun from France

Their cupidity renders them daring and indifferent to everything else. It is nothing to them to expose their lives and those of others in order to gain money. How materialistic these people are!
To the Right Reverend J. Bouvier, Bishop of Le Mans, Saint Mary's, 1849-07-08.

“"I often see people saying 'Nobody has produced an invulnerable software system; therefore, nobody will ever produce an invulnerable software system.'"By the same bogus reasoning, nobody will ever reach Mars; nobody will ever find MD5 collisions; nobody will ever cure cancer; nobody will ever prove the Poincare conjecture; nobody will ever clone a human; nobody will ever build a 1GHz CPU; nobody will ever find SHA-1 collisions; nobody will ever break the sound barrier; etc."”

Daniel J. Bernstein (1971) American mathematician, cryptologist and programmer

15 January 2005
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/sci.crypt/msg/49c4cd60d948032d
On testing

“On September 11, 2001, 3000 Americans were killed by terrorists. We spent billions of dollars trying to hunt them down and kill them, right? You know what else happened September 11, 2001? Forty-five hundred Americans were killed by abortionists; 50% more deaths, but nobody said a word. The next day, it happened again. We've had a September 11 tragedy every day ever since.”

Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist

Creation seminars (2003-2005), Lies in the textbooks

“No one has ever gone broke underestimating the insecurities of the gay and lesbian consumer.”

Dan Savage book Skipping Towards Gomorrah

Source: Skipping Towards Gomorrah (2002), p. 216

“I hope that Israel flourishes, I just don't think that Israel is worth ‘an American life or an American dollar”

Michael Scheuer (1952) American counterterrorism analyst

Michael Scheuer interviewed by Bill Maher http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZF4_oaTIH8g, September 21, 2007. <br class="br">2000s

“American dollars should be spent on Americans’ safety and security, and if the national security threat is having an armed gunman in our school rooms, then we need to put our children first and stop sending our dollars overseas.”

Christina Hagan (1988) Member of the Ohio House of Representatives

Source: NRA-Endorsed Christina Hagan: ‘Stop Sending Our Dollars Overseas,’ Pay Armed Veterans to Protect Schools https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/04/24/nra-endorsed-christina-hagan-stop-sending-our-dollars-overseas-pay-armed-veterans-to-protect-schools/ (24 April 2018)

“Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.”

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P.T. Barnum17

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