No Reputation is a Good Reputation

A brother asked Mathois, "If I go to live in such-and-such a place, what do you suggest I do there?"

He said, "If you live there, don't try to make a reputation for yourself on some pretext, like saying either 'I will not join other monks' or 'I will not eat this and that.' This is the sort of thing that creates a bubble of reputation, and afterwards you will suffer from crowds. When people hear that sort of thing they flock there."