fame-and-fortune

Fame and fortune are calling. Are we taking the call or blocking the number?

I'm old enough to have lived in a country where, if you were willing to work hard, you could have a fairly nice life. You could support your family, and even get a shot at owning your own home. But you never thought you'd get a swimming pool. Now culture has hypnotised people into thinking they're really nothing if they're not wealthy and a Kardashian.

We cannot measure a person__ value to the human race by tabulating the size of his estate. We must judge each person by his or her final contribution to humanity and nature.

We're all made the same but then born to change. Which then don't make us the same.

The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation p

Blame me not for my mistakes, for that's common, but surely do for my achievements which I'm equally unaware of.

I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.)... 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'] ...two of them said that, after death, the [sic (misprint, fault of the publisher)] just go to Paradise. The third one, though, told me to consult some verses from the Koran. [end quote]' ...I can see that he's excited. [narrator]' ...Now I have many positive things to say about Coelho: He is respectable, inspiring as a man, a truth-seeker, and an appealing writer; but one should hesitate to call him a 'literary' writer based on this quote. A 'literary' author knows that a character's excitement should be 'shown' in his or her dialogue and not in the narrator's commentary on it. Advice for Coelho: Remove the 'I can see that he's excited' sentence and show his excitement in the phrasing of his quote.(Now, in defense of Coelho, I am firmly of the opinion, having myself written plenty of prose that is flawed, that a novelist should be forgiven for slipping here and there.)Lastly, it appears that a belief in reincarnation is of great interest to Mr. Coelho ... Just think! He is a man who has achieved, (as Leonard Cohen would call it), 'a remote human possibility.' He has won lots of fame and tons of money. And yet, how his preoccupation with reincarnation__one other than an interest in being born again as somebody else__uggests that he is not happy!

Another interview, some more personal philosophy shared with the people of Japan:__ou are in favour with women,_ he is told. __o you have any secret to be sexy?___eah_, he answers. __et famous and rich. Yeah, If you__e famous and rich, you become better-looking instantly. In fact, I__ quite an average guy but it__ what people think I__e got that makes me sexy, it__ not what I actually have._<_>__t__ 50 percent of what you__e got and 50 percent of what people think you__e got that makes you sexy_ Yeah, I__ rich. That makes me sexy. Sexy__ in the eye of the beholder. I don__ fancy me much. They__e got the perception that I__ a bit of a wild one, and I think people like to think they can tame you.

He knows how to market himself well. Nowadays, that's all that seems to count. He's rebellious in a way that appeals to people with vain, shallow taste. So of course he manipulates his audiences with the blessing of his recording company and the financial investors behind his brand.

In a world of knowledge and expertise, fame and fortune, status and ranks....nothing has the power to affect change as much as love and compassion.

NEVER SACRIFICE YOUR VALUES & MORALS FOR RICHES OR FAME. IT'S A PAYMENT THAT'S NON-REFUNDABLE

A writer doesn't dream of riches and fame, though those things are nice. A true writer longs to leave behind a piece of themselves, something that withstands the test of time and is passed down for generations.

So many stars in the sky, each unique and full of destiny. I wanted more than anything to be part of those stars.I never realized becoming one would destroy me.

it's all a popularity contest, which unfortunately often has more to do with good looks rather than actual talent.

Back then: to be paid more, one needed to increase the number of things that are by him known. Today: to be paid more, one needs to increase the number of people by whom he is known.

Sarcasm is the new staircase to stardom.

A person whom works exclusively for money places a price tag on his or her soul. A person whom labors to attain fame seeks a false form of adulation. The writer ignores the lure of a glamorous life by seeking to penetrate the darkness of their own being and meditate the larger issues that frame existence. A seeker knowingly follows a path that is barren, bleak, desolate, and unproductive in terms of attaining recognition and exulted social and financial status.

I seek to sensitize and clarify the essential elements of my soul. I will leave striving for the flags of fame and fortune behind and go where the soul beckons without fearing the decisive outcome. I will travel in a world without boundaries and embrace danger and awe. I will stand as a witness to comedy, beauty, and tragedy and apply the principles of artistic and ascetic forms of awareness to overcome the inherent frustration of enduring a fundamentally painful human existence.