Washington Irving on fame

Whenever a man’s friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.

There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of human nature.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.

In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.

Andy Warhol1928–1987Catalogue of an exhibition of his art in Stockholm, Sweden (1968)

Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.

Emily Dickinson1830–1886Fame is a fickle food (B)

Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from.

Tacitus55–120