Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Oblivion is the rule and fame the exception, of humanity.

Of present fame think little, and of future less; the praises that we receive after we are buried, like the flowers that are strewed over our grave, may be gratifying to the living, but they are nothing to the dead.

When I die, and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me. That is the way it should be.

It's irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me. I've lived long enough to know that you may be idealised in life and reviled after you're dead.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

Worldly renown is naught but a breath of wind, which now comes this way and now comes that, and changes name because it changes quarter..

People will forget me pretty quick.

We write our names in the sand: and then the waves roll in and wash them away.

A man's renown is like the hue of grass, Which comes and goes.

Seeking to perpetuate one's name on earth is like writing on the sand by the seashore; to be perpetual it must be written on eternal shores.

Time has a doomsday book, upon whose pages he is continually recording illustrious names. But as often as a new name is written there, an old one disappears. Only a few stand in illuminated characters never to be effaced.

To set one's name to a work gives no one a title to be remembered, for who knows how many of the best of men have gone without a trace? The iniquity of oblivion blindly scatters her poppyseed and when wretchedness falls upon us one summer's day like snow, all we wish for is to be forgotten.

All is ephemeral - fame and the famous as well.

Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable.

Celebrity was a long time in coming; it will go away. Everything goes away.

I try to keep myself as normal as possible. Stardom is transient. People forget you after a while.

No matter what heights you achieve, even if you're Brad Pitt, the slide is coming, sure as death and taxes.

Woody Allen has a wonderful line: 'Today I'm a star. What will I be tomorrow? A black hole?' That's very important to know - that you have the moment, then you lose the moment. You have to see your chances, you have to take them, and you also have to see when you don't have chances to take.

As soon as the dirt is hitting the casket, it'll all be forgotten.

After I die, I'll be forgotten.

At root fame is a sham. I'm not going to live forever and if I am I certainly need don't you to tell me that so that I will buy a car or a box of dried up crackers.

Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.

In Hollywood, you can live alongside very famous but still incredibly boring people. I've never wanted to be immortal. Even if nobody remembers me after my death, it's still okay with me.

It doesn't matter how popular an actor you are: nobody will remember you forever.

I don't care much whether people remember me or not. If people remember, well and good. If they don't remember, it's alright - I'm dead anyway.