Fame 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.

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.

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.

Reality is always the foe of famous names.

Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.

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