Vain Quotes

986 Vain quotes by 692 unique authors

The man of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any man can be, is often more miserable than most men are. — Charles Caleb Colton
No reliance can be placed on the friendship of kings, nor vain hope put in the melodious voice of boys; for that passes away like… — Saadi
All our efforts to attain immortality-by statesmanship, by conquest, by science or the arts-are equally vain in the long run, because the long run is… — Sydney J. Harris
The real satisfaction which praise can afford, is when what is repeated aloud agrees with the whispers of conscience, by showing us that we have… — Samuel Johnson
There is (as I now find) no remorse for time long past, even for what may have mortified us or made us ashamed of ourselves… — George Santayana
Morality, thou deadly bane, Thy tens o' thousands thou hast slain! Vain is his hope, whose stay an' trust is In moral mercy, truth, and… — Robert Burns
The terrors of truth and dart of death To faith alike are vain. — Herman Melville
O! How vain and vile a passion is this fear! What base uncomely things it makes men do. — Ben Jonson
Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain… — John Milton
The vain poet is of the opinion that nothing of his can be too much: he sends to you basketful after basketful of juiceless fruit,… — Walter Savage Landor
How vain painting is-we admire the realistic depiction of objects which in their original state we don't admire at all. — Blaise Pascal
For good undone, and gifts misspent, and resolutions vain — Adam Lindsay Gordon
Natural wealth is limited and easily obtained; the wealth defined by vain fancies is always beyond reach. — Epicurus
Unless we find repose within ourselves, it is vain to seek it elsewhere. — Hosea Ballou
Reader, I am myself the subject of my book; you would be unreasonable to spend your leisure on so frivolous and so vain a matter. — Bernard Malamud
Vain, weak-built isthmus, which dost proudly rise Up between two eternities! — Abraham Cowley
I, who have been so many men in vain, want to be one man, myself alone. From out of a whirlwind the voice of God… — Jorge Luis Borges
Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot,' billed as 'the laugh sensation of two continents,' made its American debut at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, in Miami, Florida,… — John Lahr
The city has always been an embodiment of hope and a source of feeling guilt; a dream pursued, and found vain, wanting, and destructive. — Jonathan Raban
Love begets wisdom, thus it is, as often misconceived, more than vain layers of tenderness; it is inherently rational and comprehensive of the problem within… — Criss Jami
I went to India and met some people who had been involved in this guerrilla business, middle-class people who were rather vain and foolish. There… — V.S. Naipaul
Observe this, that tho a woman swear, forswear, lie, dissemble, back-bite, be proud, vain, malicious, anything, if she secures the main chance, she's still virtuous;… — George Farquhar
Unicorns are immortal. It is their nature to live alone in one place: usually a forest where there is a pool clear enough for them… — Peter S. Beagle
Is enjoyment the goal of life? Were it so, it would be a tremendous mistake to become a man at all. What man can enjoy… — Swami Vivekananda
Prayer is not a vain attempt to change God's will; it is a filial desire to learn God's will and to share it. Prayer is… — George Arthur Buttrick

Who Wrote These Vain Quotes

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