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Quotes

Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.

—Epictetus, c. 100

Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

—E. R. Dodds, 1951

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

—Pliny the Younger, c. 110

I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.

—Cato the Elder, c. 184 BC

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

—Martin Luther, c. 1530

What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.

—Voltaire, 1723

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.

—Davy Crockett, 1834

I won’t be happy till I’m as famous as God.

—Madonna, c. 1985

Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, now that, and changes names as it changes in direction.

—Dante Alighieri, c. 1315

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.

—Sammy Davis Jr., 1965

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

—Aldous Huxley, 1925

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.

—Marilyn Monroe, 1962