When I look for my existence I do not look for it in myself. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Reputation is in itself only a farthing candle, of a wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit. – James Russell Lowell

So you are lean and mean and resourceful and you continue to walk on the edge of the precipice because over the years you have become fascinated by how close you can walk without losing your balance. – Attributed to Richard M. Nixon