Skip to content

Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame’s proud temple shines afar?

— James Beattie The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Another quote →

Topics

Fame

More quotes by James Beattie

Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined,
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined?
No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned;
Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

How sweet the words of truth breathed from the lips of love!

All James Beattie quotes →

You may also like

Artists shouldn't be made famous.

Kate Bush

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

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