"It's marvellous to be popular, but foolish to think it will last"
About this Quote
The intent is defensive and liberating at once. By separating pleasure from expectation, Springfield sketches a survival strategy for fame: accept the joy, don’t build your identity on it. The subtext is that popularity is less a verdict on talent than a weather system of timing, taste, and industry machinery. To “think it will last” isn’t just naive; it’s a category error, confusing market heat for permanence.
Context matters here because Springfield’s career moved through sharp peaks and reinventions, in an era when pop stardom was both newly mass-mediated and brutally disposable. The 1960s and 70s music business loved a narrative until it got bored, and it got bored quickly - especially with women expected to stay eternally fresh, pliable, and grateful. Her line sidesteps the usual celebrity script (either entitlement or false humility) and offers something rarer: mature ambivalence. Enjoy the spotlight. Keep a self outside it. That’s not cynicism; it’s craft.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Springfield, Dusty. (2026, January 17). It's marvellous to be popular, but foolish to think it will last. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-marvellous-to-be-popular-but-foolish-to-think-76893/
Chicago Style
Springfield, Dusty. "It's marvellous to be popular, but foolish to think it will last." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-marvellous-to-be-popular-but-foolish-to-think-76893/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's marvellous to be popular, but foolish to think it will last." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-marvellous-to-be-popular-but-foolish-to-think-76893/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.






