Vain Quotes - Page 10

• To ask me is in vain;
  For who goes up your winding stair
  Can ne'er come down again.

  Mary Howitt

  Stairs, Ask Me, Asks

  Mary Howitt (1834). “Sketches of natural history”, p.123

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• In vain people busy themselves with finding any good of man's own in his will. For any mixture of the power of freewill that men strive to mingle with God's grace is nothing but a corruption of grace. It is just as if one were to dilute wine with muddy, bitter water.

  John Calvin

  Wine, Men, Water

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• Sacrifices are not in vain. At the end, everything will pay off.

  Gabby Douglas

  Sacrifice, Pay, Ends

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• I can't let my mother's death have been in vain. Democracy is the best revenge, and we will have it.

  Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

  Mother, Revenge, Democracy

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• A design may be called organic when there is an harmonious organization of the parts within the whole, according to structure, material, and purpose. Within this definition there can be no vain ornamentation or superfluity, but the part of beauty is nonetheless great-in ideal choice of material, in visual refinement, and in the rational elegance of things intended for use.

  Eliot Noyes

  Organization, Choices, Design

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• The question eventually must be raised: Is it a criminal offense to take the name of the Lord in vain? When people curse their parents, it unquestionably is a capital crime (Ex. 21:17). The son or daughter is under the lawful jurisdiction of the family. The integrity of the family must be maintained by the threat of death. Clearly, cursing God (blasphemy) is a comparable crime, and is therefore a capital crime (Lev. 24:16).

  Gary North

  Daughter, Integrity, Son

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• I never again want to see the face of a starving child or hear the weeping of a mother who has lost her son to war. Peace, this is what my husband gave his life for, and I want the world to know that he did not die in vain. Peace, this is what will make me very happy.

  Jehan Sadat

  Mother, Children, Husband

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• It is a vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing, instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found - in loving obedience.

  George Eliot

  Work, Blessing, Sake

  GEORGE ELIOT (1860). “ADAM BEDE”, p.405

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• Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes.

  Khalil

  Teaching, Men, Sorrow

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• Nature does nothing in vain. Therefore, it is imperative for persons to act in accordance with their nature and develop their latent talents, in order to be content and complete.

  Aristotle

  Order, Doe, Talent

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• Nor was I the only one struggling.To live an ordinary life, like any ordinary person, must have been the vain dream of countless others.

  Sayo Masuda

  Dream, Struggle, Ordinary

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• You must love the crust of the earth on which you dwell more than the sweet crust of any bread or cake. You must be able to extract nutriment out of a sand-heap. You must have so good an appetite as this, else you will live in vain

  Henry David Thoreau

  Sweet, Cake, Earth

  Henry David Thoreau, Odell Shepard (1961). “The Heart of Thoreau's Journals”, p.192, Courier Corporation

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• EVERY intention which does not assert itself by deeds is a vain intention, and the speech which expresses it is idle speech. It is action which proves life and establishes will

  Eliphas Levi

  Doe, Deeds, Speech

  Eliphas Levi (2013). “The Ritual of Transcendental Magic”, p.16, Jazzybee Verlag

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• Nor deem the irrevocable Past
  As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
  If, rising on its wrecks, at last
  To something nobler we attain.

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  Past, Rising, Wrecks

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, J. D. McClatchy (2000). “Poems and Other Writings”, p.326, Library of America

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• All art preserves mysteries which aesthetic philosophers tackle in vain.

  Anthony Burgess

  Art, Philosopher, Mystery

  "A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English". Book by Anthony Burgess, October 1992.

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• Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also mad, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived, and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments.

  John Calvin

  Confused, Mad, Wicked

  John Calvin (2012). “John Calvin's Commentaries On The Gospel Of John Vol. 2 (Annotated Edition)”, p.81, Jazzybee Verlag

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• Identification with one's office or title is very attractive indeed, which is precisely why so many men are nothing more than the decorum accorded to them by society. In vain would one look for a personality behind the husk. Underneath one would find a very pitiable little creature. That is why the office is so attractive: it offers easy compensation for personal deficiencies.

  Carl Jung

  Men, Office, Personality

  Carl Gustav Jung, Richard Francis Carrington Hull (1992). “Two Essays on Analytical Psychology”, p.145, Psychology Press

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• If you intend to speak a vain word, replace it with a tasbih.

  Abdullah ibn Mubarak

  Speak, Ifs

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• To gain anything we have longed for is only to discover how vain and empty it is; and even though we are always living in expectation of better things, at the same time we often repent and long to have the past back again.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Past, Long, Expectations

  Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “Collected Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer”, p.226, Simon and Schuster

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• The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.

  Lord Acton

  Freedom, Passion, Opportunity

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• In vain do they talk of happiness who never subdued an impulse in obedience to a principle. He who never sacrificed a present to a future good, or a personal to a general one, can speak of happiness only as the blind speak of color.

  Horace Mann

  Inspirational, Happiness, Color

  Horace Mann (1872). “Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann ...”, p.49

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• Life is too short for any vain regretting... Between the swift sun's rising and its setting, we have no time for useless tears or fretting, life is too short.... Time is the best avenger if we wait, the years speed by, and on their wings bear healing, life is too short for aught but high endeavor-too short for spite, but long enough for love. And love lives on forever and forever.

  Ella Wheeler Wilcox

  Regret, Life Is Too Short, Healing

  Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Life Is Too Short”

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• Superstitions are all materialism, because they are all based on the consciousness of body, body, body. No spirit there. Spirit has no superstitions - it is beyond the vain desires of the body.

  Swami Vivekananda

  Desire, Body, Superstitions

  Swami Vivekananda (2015). “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, p.3600, Manonmani Publishers

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• Rowing is such a fine sport. Everyone goes backward, and the leader can see his opponents as they struggle in vain.

  Brad Alan Lewis

  Sports, Struggle, Leader

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• About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.

  Edsger Dijkstra

  Stupid, Axes, Trying

  Edsger W. Dijkstra (2012). “Selected Writings on Computing: A personal Perspective”, p.130, Springer Science & Business Media

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