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Quotes

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!

—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1843

Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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.

—Pablo Picasso, c. 1961

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

—Voltaire, 1723

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

—Julie Burchill, 1986

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

—Pliny the Younger, c. 110

How sweet it is to have people point and say, “There he is.”

—Persius, c. 60

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

—Madonna, c. 1985

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.

—Albert Einstein, 1931

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

—Cato the Elder, c. 184 BC

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

—Ethel Merman, c. 1955

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

—Clark Gable, 1935