--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not uncommon for those who at their…" description: "\"It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance into the world were distinguished for attainments or abilities, to disappoint the hopes which ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/lyndon-b-johnson-684_ability_it-is-not-uncommon-for-those-who-at-thei_2413020.png" --- # It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance… ![“It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance into the world were distinguished for attainments or abilities, to disappoint the hopes which they had raised, and to end in neglect and obscurity that life which they began in honour. To the long catalogue of the inconveniences of old age…” quote by Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/lyndon-b-johnson-684_ability_it-is-not-uncommon-for-those-who-at-thei_2413020.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/lyndon-b-johnson-684_ability_it-is-not-uncommon-for-those-who-at-thei_2413020.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/lyndon-b-johnson-684_ability_it-is-not-uncommon-for-those-who-at-thei_2413020.png) > “It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance into the world were distinguished for attainments or abilities, to disappoint the hopes which they had raised, and to end in neglect and obscurity that life which they began in honour. To the long catalogue of the inconveniences of old age, which moral and satirical writers have so copiously displayed, may be often added the loss of fame.” [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights that early promise does not guarantee lasting fame; many fade into obscurity despite early distinction. **In simple terms:** Early success often fades over time. Key Takeaway Recognize the impermanence of fame. Themes mortality humility legacy vanity Mood reflective somber Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - career retrospectives - personal reflections - historical analysis - literary critique Key Concepts ephemeral nature of reputation human ambition Questions to Reflect On - How do you prepare for potential decline in recognition? - What actions preserve lasting impact? A Different Perspective Not all early achievers lose status; some maintain influence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Fame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fame/) [Honour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honour/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Inconvenience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inconvenience/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Neglect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglect/) [Obscurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscurity/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Satirical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satirical/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/there-was-an-awful-rainbow-once-in-heaven-we-know-her-woof-her/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [In the middle of my second year at school, in 1943, I got drafted into the army, was gone for three years, and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/in-the-middle-of-my-second-year-at-school-in-1943-i-got-drafted-into/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [The job of the photographer, in my view, is not to catalogue indisputable fact but to try to be coherent about intuition and hope.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-job-of-the-photographer-in-my-view-is-not-to-catalogue/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [People order clothes out of a catalogue, put it on an actor and everything is generic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/people-order-clothes-out-of-a-catalogue-put-it-on-an-actor-and/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [I've always been a fan of reading art catalogues from exhibitions, and plays, and I've worked with a surrealist German playwright, Heiner Müller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-hval/i-ve-always-been-a-fan-of-reading-art-catalogues-from-exhibitions-and/) [Jenny Hval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-hval/) > [When you have made a catalogue of your friend's faults it is only fair to supply him with a duplicate, so that he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/when-you-have-made-a-catalogue-of-your-friend-s-faults-it-is-only/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library; for who can see the wall crowded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/no-place-affords-a-more-striking-conviction-of-the-vanity-of-human-2/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Let the Common School be expanded to its capabilities, let it be worked with the efficiency of which it is susceptible, and nine tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/let-the-common-school-be-expanded-to-its-capabilities-let-it-be/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Skeptic that I was as an adolescent, I had recently come to believe in a Supreme Being after thumbing through a Victoria's Secret catalogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/skeptic-that-i-was-as-an-adolescent-i-had-recently-come-to-believe-in/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [I try to write songs. At our concerts, we take the cream of the crop from my back catalogue and I don't know if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-lightfoot/i-try-to-write-songs-at-our-concerts-we-take-the-cream-of-the-crop/) [Gordon Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-lightfoot/) > [As I write, snow is falling outside my Maine window, and indoors all around me half a hundred garden catalogues are in bloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/as-i-write-snow-is-falling-outside-my-maine-window-and-indoors-all/) [Katharine Sergeant Angell White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/) > [History is only a catalogue of the forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/history-is-only-a-catalogue-of-the-forgotten/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [A universal peace, it is to be feared, is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/a-universal-peace-it-is-to-be-feared-is-in-the-catalogue-of-events/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [ Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after \[Hans\] Coper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/some-years-ago-i-was-working-on-some-forms-which-were-vase-forms-with/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [My mother would give my brothers and me a pile of catalogues and let us pick what we wanted for Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-mother-would-give-my-brothers-and-me-a-pile-of-catalogues-and-let/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) ## More by Lyndon B. Johnson > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject itself, or know where to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/knowledge-is-of-two-kinds-we-know-a-subject-itself-or-know-where-to/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [We come to reason, not to dominate. We do not seek to have our way, but to find a common way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/we-come-to-reason-not-to-dominate-we-do-not-seek-to-have-our-way-but/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy. First, let her think she's having her own way. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-have-learned-that-only-two-things-are-necessary-to-keep-one-s-wife/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/for-me-it-is-a-deep-personal-tragedy-i-know-that-the-world-shares-the/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than the entire population of Michigan, have not finished 5 years of school. Nearly 20 million have not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/today-8-million-adult-americans-more-than-the-entire-population-of/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Republicans simply don't know how to manage the economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/republicans-simply-don-t-know-how-to-manage-the-economy/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I don't believe I'll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn't go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-don-t-believe-i-ll-ever-get-credit-for-anything-i-do-in-foreign/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [There are no favorites in my office. I treat them all with the same general inconsideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-are-no-favorites-in-my-office-i-treat-them-all-with-the-same/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I'm the only president you've got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-m-the-only-president-you-ve-got/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I am afraid, ... that health begins, after seventy, and often long before, to have a meaning different from that which it had at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-am-afraid-that-health-begins-after-seventy-and-often-long-before-to/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [The family is the corner stone of our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/the-family-is-the-corner-stone-of-our-society/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Never make a speech at a country dance or a football game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/never-make-a-speech-at-a-country-dance-or-a-football-game/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/our-society-is-illuminated-by-the-spiritual-insights-of-the-hebrew/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) [Explore all 411 Lyndon B. Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance into the world were distinguished for attainments or abilities, to disappoint the hopes which they had raised, and to end in neglect and obscurity that life which they began in honour. 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