Vain Quotes

986 Vain quotes by 692 unique authors

And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right from the frame of their nature to knowledge, as… — John Adams
It is in vain that a man of sound mind and cool temper understands the condition of such a wretched being... He can no more… — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When we are young we do not look into mirrors. It is when we are old, concerned with our name, our legend, what our lives… — Michael Ondaatje
The war was about vanity, he said. It was about old men who couldn't look in the mirror anymore and so they sent the young… — Colum McCann
I know of a wild region whose librarians repudiate the vain superstitious custom of seeking any sense in books and compare it to looking for… — Jorge Luis Borges
There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. The energy remains, but, having no outlet, it implodes in a great black fart of rage which… — Erica Jong
Jesus lived and died in vain if He did not teach us to regulate the whole of life by the eternal law of love. Gandhi,… — Thomas Merton
Now, I'm not very vain. If I'd ever been, making my living covered in various grease and dirt mixtures would have cured me quickly. Still,… — Patricia Briggs
When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, `Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and… — A. E. Housman
It is vain to fight totalitarianism by adopting totalitarian methods. Freedom can only be won by men unconditionally committed to the principles of freedom. The… — Ludwig von Mises
To live only to suffer—only to feel the injury of life repeated and enlarged—it seemed to her she was too valuable, too capable, for that.… — Henry James
Watching Italians eat (especially men, I have to say) is a form of tourism the books don't tell you about. They close their eyes, raise… — Barbara Kingsolver
I tore open the closet door and began feverishly sorting through the shirts piled on the floor in the vain hope that inside that pile… — John Green
Thus we have on stage two men, each of whom knows nothing of what he believes the other knows, and to deceive each other reciprocally… — Umberto Eco
The wise needn't ask, the fool asks in vain. — Ursula K. Le Guin
Jump way back to one time, Evie and me did this fashion shoot in a junk yard, in a slaughterhouse, in a mortuary. We'd go… — Chuck Palahniuk
The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the revealed… — Greg L. Bahnsen
Small Man can be a very funny or a very tiresome Tour Companion, depending on how this kind of thing grabs you. He gambles, he… — Diana Wynne Jones
Nothing that we do, is done in vain. I believe, with all my soul, that we shall see triumph. — Charles Dickens
But little Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And… — Robert Burns
The poor dog, in life the firmest friend, The first to welcome, foremost to defend, Whose honest heart is still the master's own, Who labours,… — Lord Byron
She also considered very seriously what she would look like in a little cottage in the middle of the forest, dressed in a melancholy gray… — A A Milne
I did not say anything. I was always embarresed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and the expression in vain. We had heard them,… — Ernest Hemingway
Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may… — Charlotte Bronte
The common practice of keeping up appearances with society is a mere selfish struggle of the vain with the vain. — John Ruskin

Who Wrote These Vain Quotes

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