--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What people regard as vanity—leaving…" description: "\"What people regard as vanity—leaving great works, having children, acting in such a way as to prevent one's name from being forgotten—I regard as the h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/paulo-coelho-10_acting_what-people-regard-as-vanity-leaving-gre_2250550.jpg" --- # What people regard as vanity—leaving great works, having… ![“What people regard as vanity—leaving great works, having children, acting in such a way as to prevent one's name from being forgotten—I regard as the highest expression of human dignity.” quote by Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/paulo-coelho-10_acting_what-people-regard-as-vanity-leaving-gre_2250550.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/paulo-coelho-10_acting_what-people-regard-as-vanity-leaving-gre_2250550.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/paulo-coelho-10_acting_what-people-regard-as-vanity-leaving-gre_2250550.jpg) > “What people regard as vanity—leaving great works, having children, acting in such a way as to prevent one's name from being forgotten—I regard as the highest expression of human dignity.” [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Legacy through lasting works, children, and reputation is seen as the highest human dignity. **In simple terms:** Legacy as dignity. Key Takeaway Create lasting impact. Themes legacy human dignity achievement memory Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - family planning - artistic creation Key Concepts reputation procreation art influence Questions to Reflect On - What legacy do you wish to leave? - How do you balance present joy with future impact? A Different Perspective May ignore present happiness for future remembrance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Having children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-children/) [Human dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-dignity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) ## Related quotes > [“Human beings are the only ones in nature who are aware that they will die. For that reason and only for that reason, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/human-beings-are-the-only-ones-in-nature-who-are-aware-that-they-will/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [What people regard as vanityleaving great works, having children, acting in such a way as to prevent one's name from being forgotten. I regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/what-people-regard-as-vanityleaving-great-works-having-children/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The pomp of funerals has more regard to the vanity of the living than the honor of the dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-pomp-of-funerals-has-more-regard-to-the-vanity-of-the-living-than/) [François De La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“Would you believe, they insist on complete absence of individualism and that’s just what they relish! 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Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/some-people-regard-private-enterprise-as-a-predatory-tiger-to-be-shot/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Many people still regard many users of public services as undeserving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-macdonald/many-people-still-regard-many-users-of-public-services-as-undeserving/) Elaine MacDonald > [People regard the same things, some as just and others as unjust, - about these they dispute; and so there arise wars and fightings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/people-regard-the-same-things-some-as-just-and-others-as-unjust-about/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [They are done merely for ornament. ... the common people regard them as supernatural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xunzi/they-are-done-merely-for-ornament-the-common-people-regard-them-as/) [Xunzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xunzi/) > [What interests me is the way people regard themselves. When we are 15, we all feel as if we are beginning to become somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lise-sarfati/what-interests-me-is-the-way-people-regard-themselves-when-we-are-15/) Lise Sarfati > [I shield my eyes from the sun to see her cold look—the expression I saw in my mind even before I looked at her.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-shield-my-eyes-from-the-sun-to-see-her-cold-look-the-expression-i/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“Some people would regard people who look like they do as ugly if they did not look like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-would-regard-people-who-look-like-they-do-as-ugly-if-they/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [People who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bandura/people-who-regard-themselves-as-highly-efficacious-act-think-and-feel/) [Albert Bandura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bandura/) > [People regard art too highly, and history not enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/people-regard-art-too-highly-and-history-not-enough/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## More by Paulo Coelho > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Love will never separate a man from his personal legend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-will-never-separate-a-man-from-his-personal-legend/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-love-is-to-be-in-communion-with-the-other-and-to-discover-in-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Eat when it is time to eat. And walk when it is time to walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/eat-when-it-is-time-to-eat-and-walk-when-it-is-time-to-walk/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contended, but happiness? I no longer fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/joy-is-like-sex-it-begins-and-ends-i-want-pleasure-i-want-to-be/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Trudi se da zivis, sjecanja su za starije ljude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/trudi-se-da-zivis-sjecanja-su-za-starije-ljude/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-someone-leaves-it-s-because-someone-else-is-about-to-arrive/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. 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