“Never give a sucker an even break.”

—  W.C. Fields

According to Collier's (28 November 1925), Fields is said to have used this line as early as 1923 in the musical comedy play Poppy. It became the title of one of his films in 1941 (and Fields' character also spoke this line in the sound film version of Poppy [1938] and in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man [1940]).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Never give a sucker an even break." by W.C. Fields?
W.C. Fields photo
W.C. Fields 47
actor 1880–1946

Related quotes

Van Morrison photo
Edwin Lefèvre photo
Kate Bush photo

“Give me a break!
Ooh, let me try!
Give me something to show
For my miserable life!
Give me something to take!
Would you break even my wings,
Just like a swallow?”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

Song lyrics, The Dreaming (1982)

Sepp Dietrich photo

“He (Hitler) knew even less than the rest. He allowed himself to be taken for a sucker by everyone.”

Sepp Dietrich (1892–1966) German SS commander

To David Irving, from "Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Wars of Panzer Army Commander Sepp Dietrich" - by Charles Messenger - Biography & Autobiography - 2005 - Page 174

John Green photo

“Luck is for suckers.”

Alaska Young, p. 113
Looking for Alaska (2005)

Libba Bray photo

“Reason was for suckers and Presbyterians.”

Source: The Diviners

P.T. Barnum photo

“There's a sucker born every minute.”

P.T. Barnum (1810–1891) American showman and businessman

Commonly attributed to Barnum, there is much testimony of contemporaries that he never actually said this, and in "P. T. Barnum Never Did Say "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html R. J. Brown asserts that it actually originated with a banker named David Hannum, in reference to one of Barnum's hoaxes: a replica of the Cardiff Giant.
Misattributed

Jim Davis photo

“Deep fry that sucker! - Garfield”

Jim Davis (1945) American cartoonist and creator of Garfield

Related topics