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.