He who treats another human being as divine thereby assigns to himself the relative status of a child or an animal.
—E. R. Dodds, 1951Quotes
What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.
—Erasmus, 1515Being 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., 1965If fame is only to come after death, I am in no hurry for it.
—Martial, c. 86Reality is always the foe of famous names.
—Petrarch, 1337Fame 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.
—Marilyn Monroe, 1962They are trying to make me into a fixed star. I am an irregular planet.
—Martin Luther, c. 1530A woman’s greatest glory is to be little talked about by men, whether for good or ill.
—Pericles, c. 450 BCI 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.
—Al Capone, 1929I won’t be happy till I’m as famous as God.
—Madonna, c. 1985Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it, and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, c. 1790Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906And what will history say of me a thousand years hence?
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 59 BC