People who are excited by posthumous fame forget that the people who remember them will soon die too. And those after them in turn. Until their memory, passed from one to another like a candle flame, sputters and goes out.
But suppose that those who remembered you were immortal and your memory undying. What good would it do you? And I don’t just mean when you’re dead, but in your own lifetime. What use is praise, except to make your lifestyle a little more comfortable?
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Modern Library. 2003. P.41, Book 4, #19. Also see The Internet Classics Archive | The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (mit.edu)
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