Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to go and get insulted.

He who treats another human being as divine thereby assigns to himself the relative status of a child or an animal.

Men are generally more pleased with a widespread than with a great reputation.

Reality is always the foe of famous names.

All people have the common desire to be elevated in honor, but all people have something still more elevated in themselves without knowing it.

Fame is no sanctuary from the passing of youth. Suicide is much easier and more acceptable in Hollywood than growing old gracefully.

What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.

Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury—to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

Fame will go by and, so long, I’ve had you, fame. If it goes by, I’ve always known it was fickle. So at least it’s something I experienced, but that’s not where I live.

Most authors seek fame, but I seek for justice—a holier impulse than ever entered into the ambitious struggles of the votaries of that fickle, flirting goddess.

They are trying to make me into a fixed star. I am an irregular planet.

Happy is the man who hath never known what it is to taste of fame—to have it is a purgatory, to want it is a hell!

I’m afraid of losing my obscurity. Genuineness only thrives in the dark. Like celery.