the imposter made pots that looked like his, but sold them at a fraction of the price. it was a long road leading to his studio, so, you had to pass the imposters shop. eventually some japanese art authority came to him and begged him to sign his work, or stamp it. he refused.

ultimately my favorite story about fame as a transmuting principal comes from a japanese potter. he became extremely famous, one of the best japanese potters of all time. he never signed his pieces so, as his fame grew, an imposter set up shop on the road leading to his studio

rilke said fame is like: there is a man building with stones in a lot - fame is the crowd that rushes in, scattering the stones, and making further building impossible. if life were an RPG, its odd to consider fame as its own statistic, cultivated independently of all the others

therefore fame as a concept exists completely separate from influence. it also exists separate from skill - easy to find someone skilled who is not famous. it also exists independent of power - many of the most powerful (or wealthy) are not famous. it's "its own thing", apart.

the guy who divided the new testament into numbered verses, thus allowing us say "romans 1:20", is probably one of the top ten most influential people to ever exist. virtually every single person in our civilization has seen with or engaged with his work. yet, he is not famous.