Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it, and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.

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.

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.

Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.

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

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