The great difficulty is first to win a reputation; the next to keep it while you live; and the next to preserve it after you die, when affection and interest are over, and nothing but sterling excellence can preserve your name.
Source: Table Talk, in Correspondence and Table-Talk, vol. 2 (ed. by Frederic Wordsworth Haydon, 1876).
-- Benjamin Haydon, (Jan 26 1786-1846), US painter, writer; A painter in the Grand Manner expounded by Reynolds, Haydon was also a popular teacher, writer, and lecturer.