“I made a conscious decision back then that I would rather be the best actress who ever lived than the most famous one.”
Fame looks different from the inside than the outside. These quotes come from and about well-known figures, exploring celebrity, recognition, legacy, and the question of whether being remembered is really all it is cracked up to be.
“There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person's lifestyle that really isn't suited to me.”
“I made a conscious decision back then that I would rather be the best actress who ever lived than the most famous one.”
“Comedy has to be done en clair. You can't blunt the edge of wit or the point of satire with obscurity. Try to imagine a famous witty saying that is not immediately clear.”
“I'm the man that made wrestling famous.”
“I love being famous - it's phenomenal.”
“I'm not comfortable being around too many people. I don't like being out in public too much. I don't like going to bars. I don't like doing celebrity stuff. So most of the characters I play are people who don't always feel comfortable beyond their small circle of friends.”
“It isn't necessary to be rich and famous to be happy. It's only necessary to be rich.”
“My goal was just to work regularly. I didn't ever expect to be rich or famous. I wanted to be a working character actor.”
“You can become famous but you can't become unfamous. You can become infamous but not unfamous.”
“Now, we believe that the majority of teachers in America know our system must be reformed, to put students first so that America can compete, that teachers don't teach to become rich or famous. They teach because they love children.”
“In the beginning, I loved being famous, but now I am tired of it and I would like to go back to my freedom.”
“It wasn't being an alcoholic - it was going wild. It happened when I got famous. It was like having my teens in my early thirties: blotting out your life, not having to think about anything.”
“I'm as famous as I want to be.”
“I don't go to premieres. I don't go to parties. I don't covet the Oscar. I don't want any of that. I don't go out. I just have dinner at home every night with my kids. Being famous, that's a whole other career. And I haven't got any energy for it.”
“I have been very happy, very rich, very beautiful, much adulated, very famous and very unhappy.”
“I hear the way people talk about the children of famous people. They're not treated very well. The presumptions are usually quite awful. So I tried to establish myself with a couple of movies. After 'Juno' I thought: 'I think I've defined myself enough as my own director that I'd love to work with my father.'”