People try so hard to believe in leaders now, pitifully hard. But we no sooner get a popular reformer or politician or soldier or writer or philosopher-a Roosevelt, a Tolstoi, a Wood, a Shaw, a Nietzsche, than the cross-currents of criticism wash him away. My Lord, no man can stand prominence these days. It's the surest path to obscurity. People get sick of hearing the same name over and over.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People desperately want to believe in leaders, but public criticism quickly destroys any prominent figure.
- In plain terms
- Fame is temporary because people get tired of the same names and criticize them into obscurity.
- What can you take from it?
- Prominence often leads to being forgotten due to public fatigue.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we elevate leaders only to tear them down?
- Is it possible to remain prominent without becoming obscure?
Another view
The quote ignores that some leaders endure despite criticism.
More from F. Scott Fitzgerald
A big man has no time really to do anything but just sit and be big.
Permalink to quote #21 Look at you; you're on The New Democracy, considered the most brilliant weekly in the country, read by the men who do things and all that. What's your business…
Permalink to quote #23 'I simply state that I'm a product of a versatile mind in a restless generation-with every reason to throw my mind and pen in with the radicals. Even if, deep …
Permalink to quote #20
Related quotes
People try so hard to believe in leaders now, pitifully hard. But we no sooner get a popular reformer or politician or soldier or writer or philosopher - a Roo…
Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy quote #142 The Public is an old woman. Let her maunder and mumble.
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle quote #3 Everyone's thinking they're the new W. Axl Rose, just running their mouths and living in this world where nothing is real. Like, it's really easy to write a co…
Michael JacksonMichael Jackson quote #55