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How idle a boast, after all, is the immortality of a name! Time is ever silently turning over his pages; we are too much engrossed by the story of the present to think of the character and anecdotes that gave interest to the past; and each age is a volume thrown aside and forgotten.

— Washington Irving

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Fame

More quotes by Washington Irving

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch.

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819)

A woman is more considerate in affairs of love than man; because love is more the study and business of her life.

Bracebridge Hall (1822)

There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.

Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a brightness over everything; it is the sweetener of toil and the soother of disquietude.

Gems for the Fireside (1882)

I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.

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Fame is a form—perhaps the worst form—of incomprehension.

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Men the most infamous are fond of fame,
And those who fear not guilt yet start at shame.

Charles Churchill The Author (1763)

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

Andy Warhol

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Washington Irving (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.