the phrase "The public be damned"
E225872
"The public be damned" is a notorious 19th-century remark attributed to American railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt, long cited as a symbol of perceived corporate indifference to public interest.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| the phrase "The public be damned" canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2016565 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the phrase "The public be damned" Context triple: [William Henry Vanderbilt, knownFor, the phrase "The public be damned"]
-
A.
Cot Damn
"Cot Damn" is a hard-hitting hip-hop track by Clipse known for its gritty production and sharp, street-centric lyricism.
-
B.
The Mask of Anarchy
The Mask of Anarchy is a political poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that fiercely condemns tyranny and calls for nonviolent resistance in the wake of the Peterloo Massacre.
-
C.
No Manners
"No Manners" is a song by American singer Teyana Taylor from her 2018 R&B album "K.T.S.E."
-
D.
Riot Act
Riot Act is a 2002 studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, noted for its politically charged themes and experimental, introspective sound.
-
E.
Vox Clamantis
Vox Clamantis is a Middle English and Latin allegorical poem by John Gower that reflects on the social and moral upheavals of 14th-century England, including the Peasants' Revolt.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the phrase "The public be damned" Target entity description: "The public be damned" is a notorious 19th-century remark attributed to American railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt, long cited as a symbol of perceived corporate indifference to public interest.
-
A.
Cot Damn
"Cot Damn" is a hard-hitting hip-hop track by Clipse known for its gritty production and sharp, street-centric lyricism.
-
B.
The Mask of Anarchy
The Mask of Anarchy is a political poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that fiercely condemns tyranny and calls for nonviolent resistance in the wake of the Peterloo Massacre.
-
C.
No Manners
"No Manners" is a song by American singer Teyana Taylor from her 2018 R&B album "K.T.S.E."
-
D.
Riot Act
Riot Act is a 2002 studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, noted for its politically charged themes and experimental, introspective sound.
-
E.
Vox Clamantis
Vox Clamantis is a Middle English and Latin allegorical poem by John Gower that reflects on the social and moral upheavals of 14th-century England, including the Peasants' Revolt.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
notorious remark
ⓘ
phrase ⓘ quotation ⓘ |
| approximateDate | 1882 ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
American capitalism
ⓘ
American railroads ⓘ Gilded Age ⓘ New York Central Railroad ⓘ press interviews ⓘ |
| attributedTo | William Henry Vanderbilt ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| genre |
business quotation
ⓘ
political quotation ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeForm |
"The public be damned!"
ⓘ
"The public be damned, I am working for my stockholders" ⓘ |
| hasContext |
19th-century American railroad industry
ⓘ
debate over corporate responsibility ⓘ public criticism of railroads ⓘ |
| hasLegacy |
enduring symbol of anti-public corporate attitudes
ⓘ
frequently cited in histories of American business ⓘ |
| hasQualifier | often quoted out of context ⓘ |
| hasReputation |
controversial
ⓘ
notorious ⓘ |
| interpretation |
expression of prioritizing shareholders over public
ⓘ
misrepresentation of a longer statement by Vanderbilt ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
Gilded Age robber barons
ⓘ
business ethics ⓘ corporate social responsibility ⓘ public opinion and the press ⓘ public relations ⓘ |
| reportedIn |
American newspapers
ⓘ
Chicago Daily News ⓘ |
| saidBy | William Henry Vanderbilt ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
business ethics discussions
ⓘ
historical analysis ⓘ media criticism ⓘ |
| symbolizes |
conflict between private profit and public good
ⓘ
corporate indifference to public interest ⓘ perceived arrogance of big business ⓘ |
| timePeriod | late 19th century ⓘ |
| usedAs |
example of corporate callousness
ⓘ
historical illustration of business–public tension ⓘ rhetorical device in political debate ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: the phrase "The public be damned" Description of subject: "The public be damned" is a notorious 19th-century remark attributed to American railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt, long cited as a symbol of perceived corporate indifference to public interest.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.