There are two modes of establishing our reputation: to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues1. It is best, however, to secure the former, because it will invariably be accompanied by the latter.
Charles Caleb Colton (1780 - 1832)
You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford2 (1863 - 1947)
Propriety3 was a rigid4 master, but one that must be obeyed if one wanted to keep a sterling5 reputation.
Lawana Blackwell, The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, 1998
A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one.
Lord Jeffery
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was.
Margaret Mitchell (1900 - 1949)
One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
A good reputation is more valuable than money.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims6
If I’ve learned one thing in the 14 years I’ve been a full-time7 cartoonist, it’s that you can not let anyone else define your professionalism. It has to be a personal ethos to which you adhere despite third party influence or acceptance. The old measuring sticks for professionalism are going away and now more than ever it’s time for independent creatives to set the bar. Set it high.
Scott R. Kurtz, PvPonline, 11-28-2011
Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed8 of - for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled9 it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous10 task to rekindle11 it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
Socrates (469 BC - 399 BC)
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate12 jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches13 from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Othello, Act III, sc. 3
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Othello", Act 3 scene 3
Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal14 part of myself, and what remains15 is bestial16.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Othello, Act II, sc. 3
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Othello, Act II, sc. 3
The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away, men are but gilded17 loam18 or painted clay.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Richard II, Act I, sc. I
