And what will history say of me a thousand years hence?

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.

Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it, and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.

Reality is always the foe of famous names.

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

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.

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

Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.

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

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

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

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

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