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

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.

A woman’s greatest glory is to be little talked about by men, whether for good or ill.

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.

Now there is fame! Of all—hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public—fame is by far the worst. It is the castigation by God of the artist. It is sad. It is true.

Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.

Reality is always the foe of famous names.

Those who know the joys and miseries of celebrities when they have passed the age of forty know how to defend themselves.

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.

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

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

When I do a show, the whole show revolves around me, and if I don’t show up, they can just forget it.