"Every day I work at not taking this fame thing seriously. Fortunately I have a great group of friends who help me do this"
About this Quote
The most revealing word is “work.” He presents staying sane as labor, a daily discipline, not an attitude you either have or don’t. That quietly punctures the myth that celebrities are effortlessly insulated or naturally narcissistic. It also suggests the opposite danger: fame is sticky, seductive, and structurally designed to be taken seriously. Publicists, premieres, fan attention, the economics of being “bankable” - all of it rewards self-importance. His sentence is a small act of resistance against an entire industry that monetizes ego.
Then he shifts from individual willpower to community: “Fortunately” and “a great group of friends” signals the real antidote isn’t a clever philosophy, it’s people who knew you before the lights. The subtext is that fame is isolating, and isolation is where delusion thrives. Friends “help me” implies they puncture the bubble - teasing, grounding, refusing to perform reverence.
In context, it reads like a survival strategy from a star who became a global brand in an era when movie stardom still carried mystique but tabloids were turning private life into sport. The line isn’t humility as PR; it’s fame management as mental hygiene.
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Willis, Bruce. (n.d.). Every day I work at not taking this fame thing seriously. Fortunately I have a great group of friends who help me do this. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/every-day-i-work-at-not-taking-this-fame-thing-167109/
Chicago Style
Willis, Bruce. "Every day I work at not taking this fame thing seriously. Fortunately I have a great group of friends who help me do this." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/every-day-i-work-at-not-taking-this-fame-thing-167109/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Every day I work at not taking this fame thing seriously. Fortunately I have a great group of friends who help me do this." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/every-day-i-work-at-not-taking-this-fame-thing-167109/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.








