Vain Quotes

986 quotes by 692 authors

I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth, than all the… — George Washington
A new home by a gap in the Meng wall; Of the old trees, a few gnarled willows are left. Those who come in the… — Wang Wei
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music… — Henry David Thoreau
I just hope I don't have to explain all the times I've used His name in vain when I get up there. — Bob Hope
Of all the kind of pains, the greatest pain is to love and to love in vain. — George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne
True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy. — William Shakespeare
A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain. It can be and is often treasured by the recipient for life. — George D. Prentice
The nakedness of the indigent world may be clothed from the trimmings of the vain. — Oliver Goldsmith
Fashion is the abortive issue of vain ostentation and exclusive egotism ... tied to no rule, and bound to conform to every whim of the… — William Hazlitt
Long customs are not easily broken; he that attempts to change the course of his own life very often labors in vain; and how shall… — Samuel Johnson
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain. — William Hazlitt
No preacher is listened to but time, which gives us the same train and turn of thought that elder people have in vain tried to… — Jonathan Swift
Never was flattery lost on a poet's ear; a simple race, they waste their toil for the vain tribute of a smile. — Walter Scott
I'd be a dog, a monkey, or a bear, or anything but that vain animal who is so proud of being rational. — John Wilmot
The black masses want not to be shrunk from as though they are plague-ridden. They want not to be walled up in slums, in the… — Malcolm X
The whole history of these books (i.e. the Gospels) is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and… — Thomas Jefferson
It is not vain glory for a man and his glass to confer in his own chamber. — William Shakespeare
It is in vain that we get upon stilts, for once on them, it is still with our legs that we must walk. And on… — Michel de Montaigne
A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good… — Robert A. Heinlein
Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify themselves. If a vain author is an alcoholic, then the… — Stephen Vizinczey

Who Wrote These Vain Quotes

692 authors contributed a total of 986 Vain Quotes, led by these top contributors: