“It was the normal working of the antisuccess mechanism. In our overcrowded modern world a hit record, a best-selling book, a successful film, can reach more people in a week than Shakespeare or Beethoven reached in a whole lifetime. And so fame has become the most romantic, the most desirable of all commodities, the dream for which a modern Faust might sell his soul to the Devil. Once attained, fame is never as easy to hold on to as some people believe. The people who achieve fame by some accident of fashion are usually forgotten within a week; the ones who remain on top have to work to stay there. But few people understand this. The result is that anyone who achieves sudden notoriety arouses envy and hostility. The greater the success, the greater the reaction.”
Source: The Geller Phenomenon (1976), p. 28
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Colin Wilson 192
author 1931–2013Related quotes
“Some famous people owe their fame to controversy.”
יש מפורסמים שעיקר הפרסום שלהם נעשה על ידי מחלוקת
Yesh mefursamim sh'ikar hapirsum shelahem n'ase al yedey mahloket.
Attributed
Book IV, 6
Histories (100-110)
Jeremy Irons: Why our TV isn't what it used to be
The Telegraph
2008-12-20
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3870293/Jeremy-Irons-Why-our-TV-isnt-what-it-used-to-be.html
2011-08-11
“You can’t make love to your fame. Even though some people try.”
Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 4, “Homesick” (p. 221)
From interview with Komal Nahta