Choose good, not glamor. Seneca, Epistles 2.21.2
Celebrity
is not nobility. Cultivate worthy pursuits, which you can recognize
because they make you noble, and happy, even when nobody is looking.
When no rewards are given but the satisfaction of doing what you do,
being who you are, then you are living the good life.
Erras,
Lucili: ex hac vita ad illam ascenditur. Quod interest inter
splendorem et lucem, cum haec certam originem habeat ac suam, ille
niteat alieno, hoc inter hanc vitam et illam: haec fulgore
extrinsecus veniente percussa est, crassam illi statim umbram faciet
quisquis obstiterit: illa suo lumine illustris est. Studia te tua
clarum et nobilem efficient.
It
is a mistake to hesitate, Lucilius. The journey from glamorous life
to happy life is an ascent. As light differs from a bright
reflection, so does the good life differ from the glamorous,
possessing the source of its power unlike the other, whose shine
comes from elsewhere. The glow of borrowed glory strikes the
glamorous from a place beyond themselves: anyone can put them into
deep shadow in a moment, by stepping between them and the world's
sun. The good, meanwhile, shine ever in the candle of their own
kindling. Your worthy pursuits will make you noble, and cause that
nobility to shine bright.