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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Reality is always the foe of famous names.

If fame is only to come after death, I am in no hurry for it.

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

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

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

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.