I think having fame as a musician is different to ‘regular’ fame. It doesn’t really mean the same thing. Like, if that fame were to leave, you’d still feel the same way. You’d still feel confused about your feelings, you’d still have something to express, regardless of whether anyone listened to you or recognised you. Rather than chasing fame, you’re chasing an unknown feeling inside of you. If we stopped having this level of fame, we’d still write songs.

…notoriety is not real glory.

I think these days, fame is disconnected from excellence.

Fame is no sure test of merit.

As for fame, fame felt like nothing. Fame was not a sensation like love or hunger or loneliness, welling from within and invisible to the outside eye. It was rather entirely external, coming from the minds of others. It existed in the way people looked at him or behaved towards him. In that, being famous was no different from being gay, or Jewish, or from a visible minority: you are who you are, and then people project onto you some notion they have.

Fame is not the glory; virtue is the goal, and Fame only a messenger to bring more to the fold.

Fame and success didn’t make him a better person. Nor was it by becoming a better person that he became famous and successful.

fame can be a bad thing when you let the light spotlight that's shining on you shine brighter than the spotlight coming from within you

I understand that in our work - doesn't matter whether it's acting or writing - what's important isn't fame or glamour, none of the things I used to dream about, it's the ability to endure.

We learn from failure, not from success!

When we have attained success, we see how inferior it is to the hope, yearning and enthusiasm with which we started forth in life’s morning.

You can’t make love to your fame. Even though some people try.

I think that there is this idea that what you should go after is fame. That is a hugely mistaken idea because fame means absolutely nothing. This whole culture of wanting to become famous is on a hiding to nothing, a sign of a society that’s lost its way and will only judge people as being valid if they’re famous, which of course is all bullshit. As Tom Stoppard said, the only thing that fame means is that more people know you than you know.”

Fame was not real. It was all a projection — fame made me a blank canvas that people projected their love, lust, troubles, self-worth, and desire upon. Fame and power do not change us; they amplify us. If we are insecure, we grow more so. If we are addictive, we become a greater addict and insatiable. If we are desirous of truth, we seek it more. If we are generous, we become more so. If we seek to fill holes through dishonest means, we have greater access to do so. Fame and power are masterful teachers.