Fame

佚名/Anonymous

在每个领域里，一旦出了名就会被一些追随者虔敬地表示赞扬和尊崇，这是种容易使人陶醉的东西。一位表演家很容易相信自己的成就和报章舆论所说的一样。可是大多数人，大多数艺人并没有得到声名和财富。那些失败的表演者又如何呢？其他任何一个失败者又如何呢？奇怪的是，对很多人来说，失败常常也会起一种报偿的作用！有些人因为庆幸自己不像你那样失败，就会对你表示同情，而你的亲朋们也会降低对你的期望，你就不必去同那些才智胜于你而获得成功的人较量。他们会帮你找借口解释你不成功不出名的原因，说什么：你太敏感呀；你对金钱不感兴趣呀；你对声名所能带来的权力没有兴趣呀；因为声誉会使你丧失隐私权，所以你不感兴趣呀，等等——这些无非都是借口而已，但这对失败者或假装不关心自己失败的人来说，都多少能带来一点儿安慰。

历史已充分证明，在生命中的某些时刻遭遇失败确实能促使有些人更加努力地奋斗，继续深信自己，并取得成功。美国小说家托马斯·沃尔夫的处女作《天使望故》在被退稿三十九次后终于得以出版，而后，他开始了自己的写作事业并赢得了声誉。贝多芬从不屈服于他专横的父亲，还忍气吞声地当过乐师，但终于克服一切困难，成为全世界最伟大、最著名的音乐家。贝斯达洛齐是19世纪意大利著名教育家，他曾经一度从事各项事业均一无所成，但最后专心于儿童教育，研讨新教育法的基本原理，形成一种新的教育理论。托马斯·爱迪生在10岁左右上四年级时曾被赶出校门，因为老师觉得他又笨又犟。这种以失败为动力，奋发向上，成名成家的人不胜枚举。不幸的是，对多数人来说，失败是奋斗的结束，而不是开始。成名者的失败事例即使有，也只是少数。

那么，我们为什么要追求声誉呢？你追求声誉吗？你希望许多人都知道你并赞赏你吗？你想要那些随声誉而来的金钱吗？你希望传媒注意你在公开场合或私下里的一言一行吗？你想要他们像猎狗似的追逐你，向你提问，想办法拆你的台脚吗？这在美国政界中非常明显，你要出名就会成为每个反对你的人的目标，当然也是传播媒介的目标。声誉把一切灯光打亮，一边给你权力和威望，另一边也把“你”赶出你的自身之外：你必须成为公众意想之中的你，而不是那个真实的你或者可能的你。像政治家，就像演员一样必须去讨好他的听众，这就往往意味着要讲一点儿自己并不完全相信或同意的话。所以相信政治家的人是如此之少，这就不足为奇了。但是，我们还没有回答本节开始所提的问题：为什么人人都追求声誉呢？我们想有下面几点理由：为了显示出某方面的卓越才能，赢得许多人的景仰爱慕，为了成为一个人人都提到的人，在亲朋面前显示你超乎于他们对你的想象之上。也许你还可加些其他理由，但我觉得上述各点是非常普遍的。

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我相信，声誉和赞扬、影响和权力、成功和失败、现实和幻想都好像是精密地编织在一匹光洁无缝的织品之中，我们将其戏称为现实。对那些拼命追求声誉、财富和赞赏的人，我要说：祝你好运。当你已抓住了成功、声誉的尾巴之后，你将会做什么呢？一直追逐下去吗？如你确实抓住了它，那就不要松手，因为下坠总比坠地少一些痛苦。走在这苍茫而不可理喻的星球上的芸芸过客们，我盼你们不久就能功成名就，或近乎功成名就吧！

Fame brings celebrity and high regard from adoring and loyal fans in each field of endeavor and it is heady stuff. A performer can easily come to believe that he or she is as good as his or her press. But most people， most artists do not gain fame and fortune. What about those performers who fail， or anyone who fails？ Curiously enough， failure often serves as its own reward for many people！ It brings sympathy from others who are delighted not to be you， and it allows family and friends to lower their expectations of you so that you need not compete with those who have more talent and who succeed. And they find excuses and explanations for your inability to succeed and become famous：you are too sensitive， you are not interested in money， you are not interested in the power that fame brings and you are not interested in the loss of privacy it demands， etc. all excuses， but comforting to those who fail and those who pretend not to notice the failure.

History has amply proven that some failure for some people at certain times in their lives does indeed motivate them to strive even harder to succeed and to continue believing in themselves. Thomas Wolfe， the American novelist， had his first novel Look Homeward Angel rejected 39 times before it was finally published and launched his career and created his fame. Beethoven overcame his tyrannical father and grudging acceptance as a musician to become the greatest， most famous musician in the world， and Pestalozzi， the famous Italian educator in the 19th century， failed at every job he ever had until he came upon the idea of teaching children and developing the fundamental theories to produce a new form of education. Thomas Edison was thrown out of school in fourth grade， at about age 10， because he seemed to the teacher to be quite dull and unruly. Many other cases may be found of people who failed and used the failure to motivate them to achieve， to succeed， and to become famous. But， unfortunately， for most people failure is the end of their struggle， not the beginning. There are few， if any， famous failures.

Well then， why does anyone want fame？ Do you？ Do you want to be known to many people and admired by them？ Do you want the money that usually comes with fame？ Do you want the media to notice everything you do or say both in public and in private？ Do you want them hounding you， questioning you and trying to undo you？ In American politics it is very obvious that to be famous is to be the target of everyone who disagrees with you as well as of the media. Fame turns all the lights on and while it gives power and prestige， it takes the you out of you：you must be what the public thinks you are， not what you really are or could be. The politician， like the performer， must please his or her audiences and that often means saying things he does not moan or does not believe in fully. No wonder so few people trust politicians. But we have not answered the question at the beginning of this paragraph：why does anyone want fame？ Several reasons come to mind：to demonstrate excellence in some field； to gain the admiration and love of many others； to be the one everyone talks about； to show family and friends you are more than they thought you were. Probably you can list some other reasons， but I think these are reasonably common.

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I believe that fame and celebrity， influence and power， success and failure， reality and illusion are all somehow neatly woven into a seamless fabric we laughingly call reality. I say to those who desperately seek fame and fortune， celebrity：good luck. But what will you do when you have caught your tail， your success， your fame？ Keep chasing it？ If you do catch it， hang on for dear life because falling is not as painful as landing. See you soon famous and almost famous， wayfarers on this unbright， nonlinear planet！