Popularity

 It takes trickery to win popular approval

Seneca - Letters From A Stoic - pg .45

"Do not cater to the crowd - for what i know they do not approve

 - and what they approve - I do not know"

Seneca

the same thing is discussed by Eugen Herrigel in his book " Zen in the Art of Archery" ;

 

Coach Awa Kenzo chides Herrigel - for being fixated on the aim and 

without being fixated on the process and using trickery to hit the bull's eye;

 

Archery is not a circus, acting, trickery and magic ;

And then even when the target is hit - Coach Kenzo says - "It" hit - not me-

Similarly in life , one should not make self a mockery 

- by seeking on popularity and become source of other's envy ,jealousy and scorn

Do not do that or get into the circus!

"I pity you if your entry upon the scene is marked by roaring, clapping and cheering,

 for I know what pathway leads to such popularity," Seneca

Seneca says:

Please yourself rather than the Populace

For what I know , they don't approve

Weigh, and not merely count, (Wo)Men's Judgments

For what they approve, I do not know

Live without fear of Gods or Men

And you'll overcome evils or end them

Seneca