Even through the reverses of the last few playoffs, the Devils' reputation was kept alive by achievements like those of this regular season, when they finished No. 2 in the Eastern Conference while allowing the fewest goals in the N.H.L.
The appropriately epic exhibition of the work of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, famed for his paintings of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and whose reputation was kept alive among filmmakers when his work fell out of fashion, is one of the largest ever held.
Meanwhile, says Erin Zeynep Guler-Tuck, editor of Time Out Istanbul's English-language edition, "since the culture demands that each person be aware of the other, it is important that a certain reputation be kept up, especially for members of high society".
Then, one Wednesday in May, Susan Collins, the Maine Republican, showed up, joking nervously about being a turncoat; to protect her reputation, her presence was kept secret.
The bull had acquired a reputation for roughness and was kept penned in a horse trailer for 14 hours.
Jarman's reputation has been kept afloat, to a certain extent, by the achievements of his most identifiable collaborator, Tilda Swinton, but the films that get her noticed - Michael Clayton, Young Adam, Adaptation - are hardly Jarmanesque.
It all feels, however, a bit airless, as if her reputation were so fragile it must be kept behind glass, lest rough handling break it.
To safeguard their reputation, respectable media ensure that advertising and editorial staff are kept strictly apart.
Mr Prabhakaran's fearsome reputation is such that whatever dissent may exist among his followers is kept to themselves.
A strong reputation was enough to keep others civil and often would spare a gunfighter from conflict.
Rather, what made it so shocking and devastating for Grass's reputation was that he had kept it secret for so long – even after receiving the Nobel Prize in 1999.
