Man is so constituted that he then only excels other things when he knows himself.
BoethiusRead
And no renown can render you well-known:_x000D_ For if you think that fame can lengthen life _x000D_ By mortal famousness immortalized,_x000D_ The day will come that takes your fame as well,_x000D_ And there a second death for you awaits.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fame is fleeting and cannot extend one's life; true legacy lies in deeper pursuits.
This quote by Boethius reflects on the transient nature of fame and the misunderstanding that being well-known can lead to a longer life. It highlights that ultimate recognition does not bring immortality, but rather, we should focus on meaningful contributions that resonate beyond mere fame, as true essence may lie in our deeds and their impact rather than the ephemeral acknowledgement from the world.
Themes
FameLifeLegacyMortalityRenown
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a motivational seminar discussing the impacts of societal pressures about fame.
More from Boethius
All quotes →He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can look fortune in the face, unbending both to good and bad; his countenance unconquered.
BoethiusRead
Every man must be content with that glory which he may have at home.
BoethiusRead
For in all adversity of fortune the worst sort of misery is to have been happy.
BoethiusRead
I who once wrote songs with keen delight am now by sorrow driven to take up melancholy measures. Wounded Muses tell me what I must write, and elegiac verses bathe my face with real tears. Not even terror could drive from me these faithful companions of my long journey. Poetry, which was once the glory of my happy and flourishing youth, is still my comfort in this misery of my old age.
BoethiusRead
Contemplate the extent and stability of the heavens, and then at last cease to admire worthless things.
BoethiusRead
Similar quotes
But that's always the way; it don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway. If I had a yaller dog that didn't know no more than a person's conscience does I would pison him. It takes up more room than all the rest of a person's insides, and yet ain't no good, nohow.
Mark TwainRead
We create institutions and policies on the basis of the way we make assumptions about us and others. We accept the fact that we will always have poor people around us. So we have had poor people around us. If we had believed that poverty is unacceptable to us, and that it should not belong to a civilized society, we would have created appropriate institutions and policies to create a poverty-free world.
Muhammad YunusRead
The search for Reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings, for it destroys the world in which you live.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in.
Henry MillerRead
Heaven and Earth last for ever. Why do Heaven and Earth last for ever? They are unborn, so ever living. The sage stays behind, thus he is ahead. He is detached, thus at one with all. Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment.
LaoziRead
Blameless people are always the most exasperating.
George EliotRead