The stars we see at night sent out their light anywhere from a few years to tens of thousands of years ago, depending on their distance from Earth.
Some of the light we see may have traveled from stars that are now long gone.
Looking into the night sky is, therefore, like taking a peek into the past.
Some of the lights visible in the night sky may no longer even represent stars that exist today. While the stars within our Milky Way are typically tens to thousands of light-years away, some stars in distant galaxies sent their light millions of years ago. Those stars may have burned out and ceased to exist, but their light continues to travel across the universe, and we can still see it twinkling in the night sky, even with just our eyes—or with the aid of a telescope.
Reputation is like the light from stars. It is sent out from the distant past to influence the present. It might or might not still be real, but it is persistent.
If you pay attention to who people are being right now, you can tell if their reputation is real or a mirage.
– Osasu Oviawe