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If I by chance succeed
In what I write, and that’s a chance indeed,
Know I am not so stupid, or so hard,
Not to feel praise, or fame’s deserved reward.

— John Dryden Disputed Poetical Quotations from Chaucer to Tennyson (1880)

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Fame

More quotes by John Dryden

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.

Aureng-Zebe (1676)

Whate’er he did, was done with so much ease,
In him alone 'twas natural to please.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Love conquers all, and we must yield to Love.

The Works of Virgil (1697)

What passion cannot Music raise and quell?

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1687)

Whatever is, is in its causes just.

Œdipus (1679)

All John Dryden quotes →

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Jorge Luis Borges The Garden of Forking Paths (1942)

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