"Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live"
About this Quote
The subtext is survival. Monroe’s public image was built as a consumable fantasy, and she knew the bargain: visibility bought at the price of being flattened into an object. Calling fame "fickle" isn’t just a warning about changing tastes; it’s a diagnosis of an industry that treats women as trends. She’s pre-grieving the inevitable turn, the moment adoration curdles into mockery or boredom, and she’s trying to get ahead of it by refusing to stake her selfhood on applause.
Context sharpens the sting. Monroe lived inside early Hollywood’s factory system, where studios engineered personas and controlled narratives, and where her desirability was both her currency and her trap. The quote reads like a private memo from someone exhausted by being publicly owned. It’s also quietly radical: she claims an interior life that the culture around her kept denying. Fame can have her image; it doesn’t get to rent her actual address.
Quote Details
| Topic | Life |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Monroe, Marilyn. (2026, January 14). Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/fame-will-go-by-and-so-long-ive-had-you-fame-if-13707/
Chicago Style
Monroe, Marilyn. "Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/fame-will-go-by-and-so-long-ive-had-you-fame-if-13707/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/fame-will-go-by-and-so-long-ive-had-you-fame-if-13707/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.










