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

There lurks in every human heart a desire of distinction which inclines every man first to hope and then to believe that nature has given him something peculiar to himself. 

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.

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.

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

Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.