“Fame itself … doesn’t really afford you anything more than a good seat in a restaurant.”
– David Bowie

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
– Henry David Thoreau

“I’m shy, paranoid, whatever word you want to use. I hate fame. I’ve done everything I can to avoid it.”
Johnny Depp

“If I became a philosopher, if I have so keenly sought this fame for which I’m still waiting, it’s all been to seduce women basically.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre

“There’s no difference between fame and infamy now. There’s a new school of professional famous people that don’t do anything. They don’t create anything.”
– Ricky Gervais

“Fame doesn’t fulfill you. It warms you a bit, but that warmth is temporary.”
– Marilyn Monroe

“The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Fame hit me like a ton of bricks.”
– Eminem

“If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“I think I understand what military fame is – to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.”
– William Tecumseh Sherman

“Fame was thrilling only until it became gruelling. Money was fun only until you ran out of things to buy.”
– Gloria Swanson

“What is fame? The advantage of being known by people of whom you yourself know nothing, and for whom you care as little.”
– Lord Byron

“A life without fame can be a good life, but fame without a life is no life at all.”
– Clive James

“Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, and now that, and changes name as it changes direction.”
– Dante Alighieri

Thoughts on fame

Skerryvore, Live Forever, Yeovil Octagon and touring

SCOTTISH band Skerryvore is fast building an international reputation for the energy and power of its music.

From its beginnings 12 years ago on Tiree as a ceilidh band, this year’s eight-man version includes a second piper, and the result is electrifying – as a lamentably small but noisily participatory Octagon audience would confirm.

From the pounding pomp of stadium songs to the plangent laments for which the pipes are the perfect accompaniment, Skerryvore is a force to be reckoned with.

As well as the pipers (who also play various reeds) there’s a singer and guitarist who lists his inspirations as Mark Knopfler, an accordionist, a drummer, a bassist, a keyboard maestro and a fiddler who’ll give Ali Bain a run for his money.

Catch Skerryvore while you can, and keep your fingers crossed that their repertoire, fed by Americana, Scottish and other traditional folk and rock, gives them enough scope to stay true to their roots, and keep playing – often – for their fans.

GP-W