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What is the end of fame? 'tis but to fill
A certain portion of uncertain paper:
Some liken it to climbing up a hill,
Whose summit, like all hills, is lost in vapour;
For this men write, speak, preach, and heroes kill,
And bards burn what they call their "midnight taper,"
To have, when the original is dust,
A name, a wretched picture, and worse bust.

— Lord Byron Don Juan (1818)

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Fame

More quotes by Lord Byron

How my soul hates This language,
Which makes life itself a lie,
Flattering dust with eternity.

Sardanapalus (1821)

For freedom's battle, once begun,
Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft, is ever won.

The Giaour (1813)

A great poet belongs to no country; his works are public property, and his Memoirs the inheritance of the public.

Conversations of Lord Byron with Thomas Medwin (1832)

She was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts,
Which terminated all.

The Dream (1816)

There 's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away.

All Lord Byron quotes →

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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: Lord Byron (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.