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.

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!

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

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.

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

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

I am sick and tired of publicity. I want no more of it. It puts me in a bad light. I just want to be forgotten.

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

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

Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.

We all have a contract with the public—in us they see themselves, or what they would like to be.

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