Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
Fame is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such, it is an accident, not a property of man.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Let us satisfy our own consciences, and trouble not ourselves by looking for fame. If we deserve it, we shall attain it: if we deserve it not we cannot force it. The praise bad actions obtain dies soon away; if good deeds are at first unworthily received, they are afterward more properly appreciated.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Life is a warfare and a stranger’s sojourn, and after fame is oblivion.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
I am not covetous for gold; but if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
All the fame you should look for in life is to have lived it quietly.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Suppose your candidate for fame pursues unremittingly the object of his love, through every difficulty and over every obstacle, till at last he overtakes her ladyship, and is permitted to kiss the hem of her garment on mount immortality, what will the dear-bought damsel boot him? If he take her to his bosom, she has no flesh and blood to warm it. If he taste of her lip, there is no more nectar in it than there are sunbeams in a cucumber.—Every rascal who has been bold and fearless enough, Nimrod, Cataline, and Tom Paine, all have had a smack at her before him: They have all more or less become famous, and will be remembered much longer than better men.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
In Hollywood now when people die they don’t say, “Did he leave a will?” but “Did he leave a diary?”
—Liza Minnelli (b.1946) American Singer, Actress
Fame is not the glory; virtue is the goal, and fame only a messenger to bring more to the fold.
—Vanna Bonta (1958–2014) Italian-American Novelist, Poet, Actress
Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The thirst for an enduring fame is near akin to the love of true excellence; but the fame of the moment is a dangerous possession and a bastard motive; and he who does his acts in order that the echo of them may come back as a soft music in his ears, plays false to his noble destiny as a Christian man, places himself in continual danger of dallying with wrong, and taints even his virtuous actions at their source.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
The temple of fame stands upon the grave; the flame upon its altars is kindled from the ashes of the dead.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Even the best things are not equal to their fame.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.
—Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) (39–65 CE) Roman Statesman, Latin Poet
After I’m dead I’d rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
If I’m such a legend, then why am I so lonely? Let me tell you, legends are all very well if you’ve got somebody around who loves you.
—Judy Garland (1922–69) American Actress, Singer
Not to know me argues yourselves unknown.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
I awoke one morning and found myself famous.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Spring is a natural resurrection, an experience in immortality.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
My great comfort is, that the temporary celebrity I have wrung from the world has been in the very teeth of all opinions and prejudices. I have flattered no ruling powers; I have never concealed a single thought that tempted me.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Riches: A dream in the night. Fame: A gull floating on water.
—Chinese Proverb
He that pursues fame with just claims, trusts his happiness to the winds; but he that endeavors after it by false merit, has to fear, not only the violence of the storm, but the leaks of his vessel.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
My biggest nightmare is I’m driving home and get sick and go to hospital. I say: ‘Please help me.’ And the people say: ‘Hey, you look like…’ And I’m dying while they’re wondering whether I’m Barbra Streisand.
—Barbra Streisand (b.1942) American Musician, Actor, Songwriter
Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Fame is only good for one thing—they will cash your check in a small town.
—Truman Capote (1924–84) American Novelist
Time hath a wallet at his back, wherein he puts. Alms for oblivion, a great-sized monster of ingratitudes.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
May the countryside and the gliding valley streams content me. Lost to fame, let me love river and woodland.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
I am not concerned that I am not known, I seek to be worthy to be known.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
The way to fame is like the way to heaven, through much tribulation.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
Fame hides her head among the clouds.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
Celerity is never more admired than by the negligent.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Do we really want to know how Michael Jackson makes his music? No. We want to understand why he needs the bones of the Elephant Man—and, until he tells us, it doesn’t make too much difference whether or not he really is bad.
—Frank Zappa (1940–93) American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer
It’s too bad I’m not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few people like that.
—Alan Alda (b.1936) American Actor, TV Personality, Screenwriter
I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
A man who cannot win fame in his own age, will have a very small chance of winning it from posterity.—There may be some half dozen exceptions to this truth among myriads that attest it; but what man of common sense would invest any large amount of hope in so unpromising a lottery?
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Being a famous writer is a little like being a tall dwarf. You’re on the edge of normality.
—John Updike (1932–2009) American Novelist, Poet, Short-Story Writer
God makes stars. I just produce them.
—Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) Polish-born American Film Producer, Businessperson
Fame often makes a writer vain, but seldom makes him proud.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
‘What’s fame, after all, me la-ad? ‘Tis apt to be what some wan writes on ye’er tombstone.
—Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) American Author, Writer, Humorist
The day will come when everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.
—Andy Warhol (1928–87) American Painter, Printmaker, Film Personality
I’m afraid of losing my obscurity. Genuineness only thrives in the dark. Like celery.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
If you are ambitious of climbing up to the difficult, and in a manner inaccessible, summit of the Temple of Fame, your surest way is to leave on one hand the narrow path of Poetry, and follow the narrower track of Knight-Errantry, which in a trice may raise you to an imperial throne.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
There is only one way to get ready for immortality, and that is to love this life and live it as bravely and faithfully and cheerfully as we can.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
Fame is the perfume of heroic deeds.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
How vain, without the merit, is the name.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Fame is proof that people are gullible.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Fame is like a shaved pig with a greased tail, and it is only after it has slipped through the hands of some thousands, that some fellow, by mere chance, holds on to it!
—Davy Crockett (1786–1836) American Frontiersman, Politician