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Towards the end of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the crew stand up against Rourke. Rourke sighs and says "P. T. Barnum was right," in disgust, then drives away.

What quote was being referenced here? The only one I can think of is the classic one about another sucker being born every minute. But...that quote doesn't really contextually fit into the scene. Rourke is clearly disgusted by his erstwhile allies, and expressing his disgust and contempt for them. If he were referring to the sucker quote, I suppose it is indicating that they're a bunch of suckers and he can always get more.

But the point of the quote is that there's another person born every minute to be taken advantage of. In contrast, Rourke seems perfectly willing to split the share with his crew (up until his life is endangered) and must have in their past adventures together. He is dismayed at their betrayal because he trusted them, especially because they had already been through so many mercenary adventures already, and seems genuinely mystified that they only now seem to have chosen to grow consciences.

Have there been any relevant DVD extras or interviews or something. Of the sort that addresses this? IMDB just says the line most likely refers to the sucker line, but that isn't really any kind of proof. Or am I just reading too much into what was meant to be a throwaway line of dialogue meant to set the era with a reference people were meant to get but that didn't quite fit?

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There is only one quote from P. T. Barnum worth remembering, although evidence suggests he never actually said it:

"There's a sucker born every minute."

Rourke may be referring to himself as the "Sucker" of the quote, disgusted that he didn't see their betrayal coming. More likely the fact that his allies are settling down to make an "honest" living while he continues his adventures makes them the Suckers. I can't remember which it seemed to be in the film, I haven't seen it for a long time.

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    Explaining why this quote fits would go a long way here since OP said he already considered this quote and believes it is not the correct one.
    – phantom42
    Jan 30, 2018 at 12:57
  • This is likely the correct "quote", except that it wasn't Barnum who said it, despite being attributed to him.
    – Spencer
    Apr 25, 2021 at 22:30
  • "Barnum was right" has achieved the status of a cliche, it's even the title of an old movie, so we don't have to guess which Barnum saying it refers to, it's always the famous (spurious) one about suckers.
    – user14111
    Apr 25, 2021 at 23:36
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I’m watching this at the moment, had the same question. Perhaps ‘comfort is the enemy of progress’? Rourke looks down on the others because it’s outside of their ethics to leave the Atlantians without their power source, but he sees the acquisition of the crystal as necessary for the good of scientific progress?

Otherwise the ‘sucker born every minute’ quote works if we assume he misunderstood the meaning of it. I think that would be in character as he doesn’t seem like the type to have incredible critical thinking skills lol

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