“He must be constantly printed in order that his name may be seen, and remain prominent.”

Satirises the publicity machine around the young poet · Book, Some Contemporary Poets, 1920

• Fame
• Journalism
• Poetry

“All I desire, for now, is to be an extra in the immense comedy of humanity; when my part is over, to slip backstage without being hissed or applauded.”

Original: He aquí hoy por hoy todo lo que ambiciono. Ser un comparsa en la inmensa comedia de la humanidad; y concluido mi papel de hacer bulto, meterme entre bastidores, sin que me silben ni me aplaudan, sin que nadie se aperciba siquiera de mi salida. — Bécquer imagines a quiet life without ambition for fame or public recognition. · Letter III, Cartas desde mi celda (Spanish)

• Fame
• Humility
• Solitude

“How transitory and fragile is the reputation of histories that were welcomed as perfect in their day.”

On the short life of most historical scholarship · Inaugural lecture, A Plea for the Historical Teaching of History, 1904

• Fame
• Time

“I would rather be useful in obscurity than celebrated for accomplishments which have done no good.”

Preferring genuine usefulness to fame or public recognition. · Letter

• Fame
• Humility
• Service

“I have listened with very mixed emotions to flattering estimates of me and what I have done.”

Showing his discomfort with extravagant praise. · Speech, The Classics and the Sciences, 1923

• Fame
• Humility
• Praise

“In certain notorious cases the longer he has been dead the more alive he is, and the more acute is his competition against the living.”

A witty observation about the enduring power of canonical writers. · Speech, The Handicaps of Letters, 1908

• Fame
• Immortality
• Literature

“A writer often does not begin to live till he has been dead for some time.”

Reflecting on the strange afterlife of literary reputation. · Speech, The Handicaps of Letters, 1908

• Fame
• Immortality
• Writers

“It is much pleasanter to contemplate the man whose skill has found favour and keeps it.”

A wry acknowledgement of the precarious nature of artistic success. · Speech, The Claims of Art, 1907

• Art
• Fame
• Success

“The Interviewer comes everywhere, and if a note happens to lie open anywhere he will know what is in it.”

A humorous anticipation of the modern problem of intrusive journalism · Letter to M. A. De Wolfe Howe Jr, September 22, 1887

• Fame
• Journalism
• Privacy

“I cannot write even a careless note like this without grave consideration.”

Showing how public attention can make even private writing feel consequential · Letter to M. A. De Wolfe Howe Jr, September 22, 1887

• Fame
• Privacy
• Writing

“I have to be careful what I write, as I often find it in print, sometimes to my great discomfiture.”

Reflecting on the loss of privacy that accompanies literary fame · Letter to M. A. De Wolfe Howe Jr, September 22, 1887

• Fame
• Privacy
• Writing

“I am what my friends the autograph-hunters call a “noted person,” sometimes perhaps “notorious,” but I am not quite sure of this.”

A self-mocking response to celebrity and the demands of admirers · Letter to M. A. De Wolfe Howe Jr, September 22, 1887

• Fame
• Humour
• Privacy

“If I gave it all up immediately, I'd lose my immortality.”

Joyce jokingly presents literary persistence as a route to immortality. · Conversation about Ulysses, as reported by Richard Ellmann

• Fame
• Immortality
• Writing

“Christopher Columbus, as everyone knows, is honoured by posterity because he was the last to discover America.”

A characteristically ironic observation about fame and historical recognition. · Essay, The Mirage of the Fisherman of Aran, 1912

• Fame
• History
• Humour

“Glory is a shadow that follows virtue, now preceding it, now following behind, but always accompanying it.”

Original: Gloria virtutem tanquam umbra sequitur, modo praecedens, modo tergo inhaerens, sed semper comes. — Reflects the ancient Roman perspective on fame as an inevitable secondary shadow of true integrity · Spoken remark attributed in classical sources (Latin)

• Fame
• Glory
• Virtue

“The greatest thing God can grant is not to be called famous and great, but to truly become a human being.”

Original: Det største som Gud kan gi, er ikke å kalles berømt og stor, men menneske rett å bli. — Values genuine humanity above worldly fame and status · Moral writings (Norwegian)

• Fame
• Humanity
• Humility

“As the pearl ripens in the obscurity of its shell, so ripens in the tomb all the fame that is truly precious.”

Fame perfected only after death · Conversation / essay (as commonly attributed)

• Death
• Fame
• Time

“If thou lovest Glory, thou must trust her truth. She followeth him who doth not turn and gaze after her.”

Suggesting that true glory comes to those who do not chase it · Imaginary Conversations

• Fame
• Glory
• Integrity

“Glory is a light which shines from us on others, not from others on us.”

Reversing the common notion that glory is reflected praise from outside · Imaginary Conversations

• Character
• Fame
• Glory

“It is astonishing how rapidly memories of that kind disappear.”

Reflecting on how quickly achievements can vanish from collective memory · The Autobiography of Lord Alfred Douglas, 1929

• Fame
• Memory
• Time

“I am altogether uncertain, whether to look upon my self as a man building a monument, or burying the dead?”

Wondering whether collected works preserve writing or merely entomb it · Preface to The Works of Alexander Pope, 1717

• Fame
• Mortality
• Writing

“it is with a fine Genius as with a fine fashion, all those are displeas'd at it who are not able to follow it.”

Linking resentment of talent with the inability to imitate it · Preface to The Works of Alexander Pope, 1717

• Creativity
• Envy
• Fame

“from the moment he prints, he must expect to hear no more truth, than if he were a Prince, or a Beauty.”

Warning writers that publication can surround them with flattery · Preface to The Works of Alexander Pope, 1717

• Fame
• Truth
• Writing

“the reputation of a man generally depends upon the first steps he makes in the world, and people will establish their opinion of us, from what we do at that season when we have least judgment to direct us.”

Observing how early mistakes can shape a lasting reputation · Preface to The Works of Alexander Pope, 1717

• Fame
• Judgement
• Youth