Fame or fortune – which would you choose?
I agree with
Susan and Rachel that this conditional question allows me to choose only one of
the two options on offer, and, assuming “fortune” means pots and pots of dosh
(money, lolly, lucre, cash, spondoola, bread, dough, bucks), I would unequivocally choose fortune over fame.
Fame is capricious
and depends on others; fortune can be managed, overseen, curated.
Fame means
nothing except maybe annoyance to those who share your life; fortune can be
shared with those about whom you care.
Fame becomes
a burden; fortune can offer freedom.
Fame feeds
the ego; fortune can feed the soul.
Fame cannot
be kept from those you meet; fortune can be private, so you’ll be more likely
to be able to have “real” human relationships based upon “real” responses to
you as a person, rather than as some sort of icon.
For those
who gain fame, for whatever reason, often the opportunity to amass a fortune
follows, so you might think I’d prefer fame so that I'd, ultimately, have more of a chance of
access to a fortune. But that’s not a choice on offer here. In any case, honestly, I’d rather be a completely
unknown millionaire, able to live the life I choose without a worry about money
for myself or those I love, than have to constantly pander to the fame-granters
whose criteria for allowing me to be “famous” would shift in any case. I should add, in case you're wondering, that I'm not afraid to work hard to amass my fortune in any field where fame doesn't have to be a part of the achievement system involved - for example, so long as there's no photo on the jacket, a book that garners millions of dollars doesn't have to make one famous, as such...so let's go with that as an option, eh?
Or, yes, let
me win the lottery, anonymously, and I’ll be as happy as Larry (assuming Larry
had anonymously won the lottery).
Cathy Ace writes the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (book
#2 THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER will be available in trade paperback on August 31st in the UK, and in November in the US/Canada, and the Cait Morgan Mysteries (book #7 THE CORPSE WITH THE GARNET
FACE was published in paperback in April). Find out more about Cathy and her
work, and sign up for her newsletter at http://cathyace.com/
