Vain Quotes - Page 12

• Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, labor in vain.

  Leonardo da Vinci

  Inspired, Labor, Models

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• Words are as recalcitrant as circus animals, and the unskilled trainer can crack his whip at them in vain.

  Gerald Brenan

  Animal, Circus, Cracks

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• Christianity, democracy, science, education, wealth, and the cumulative inheritance of a thousand years, have not preserved us from the vain repetition of history.

  Ralph Adams Cram

  Christian, Years, Democracy

  RALPH ADAMS CRAM (1922). “TOWARDS THE GREAT PEACE”

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• A Christian man is on his guard with respect to those who philosophize according to the elements of this world, not according to God, by Whom the world itself was made; for he is warned by the precept of the apostle and faithfully hears what has been said, 'Beware that no one deceive you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the elements of the world'

  Saint Augustine

  Christian, Philosophy, Men

  Saint Augustine of Hippo, Catholic Way Publishing (2015). “The City of God”, p.344, Catholic Way Publishing

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• Worthless is the charity of the man who bestows it unwillingly, because material charity is not his, but God's gift, while only the disposition of the heart belongs to the man. This is why many charities prove almost worthless, for they were bestowed unwillingly, grudgingly, without respect for the person of our neighbor. So also the hospitality of many persons proves worthless because of their hypocritical vain-glorious behavior to their guests. Let us offer our sacrifices upon the altar of love to our neighbor, with heart-felt affection: 'for God loves a cheerful giver'

  John of Kronstadt

  Christian, Heart, Sacrifice

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• ... do not listen to vain and empty talk, in which the majority of world-loving people spend their time, and do not take pleasure in it. For the law says: 'You shall not raise false reports' (Ex. 23:1). Solomon says: 'Remove far from me vanity and lies' (Prov. 30:8). The Lord said: 'But I say to you, every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment' (Mt. 12:36).

  Lorenzo Scupoli

  Christian, Lying, Men

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• ... the Apostle says, 'he that says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk as He walked' (I Jn. 2:6). Otherwise we make a vain pretence and show, if we follow not His steps, Whose name we glory in, and assuredly they would not be irksome to us, but would free us from all dangers, if we loved nothing but what He commanded us to love.

  Pope Leo I

  Christian, Names, Steps

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• As long as we cling to the superstition that we must look to government for money supply, instead of requiring it to look to us, just so long must we remain the subjects of government and it is vain to follow this or that policy or party or ism in the hope of salvation. We can control government and our own destiny only through our money power and until we exert that power it is useless for us to debate the pros and cons of political programs.

  E.C. Riegel

  Party, Destiny, Government

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• Call it not vain: they do not err Who say that when the poet dies Mute Nature mourns her worshipper, And celebrates his obsequies.

  Walter Scott

  Nature, Poet, Celebrate

  Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott (1841). “The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart”, p.30

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• Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety.

  Seth Godin

  Dream, Passion, Voice

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• It is the Spirit alone that can mortify sin; he is promised to do it, and all other means without him are empty and vain. How shall he, then, mortify sin that has not the Spirit? A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.

  John Owen

  Mean, Eye, Men

  John Owen (2001). “Temptation and Sin”, p.34, Sovereign Grace Publishers,

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• Sometimes I'm haunted by the thought that we have only one life and that we live it provisionally, waiting in vain for the day when real life will begin. And so life passes by.

  Ignazio Silone

  Real, Waiting, Sometimes

  "The Abruzzo Trilogy".

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• Let us all agree to die a little, or even completely so that African unity may not be a vain word

  Ahmed Ben Bella

  Unity, May, Littles

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• A glamorous life is quite different to a life of luxury. I don’t need luxury. For years, I was practically broke but I was still very vain and glamorous. And I still am.

  Lady Gaga

  Years, Luxury, Different

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• I am vain. I think vanity is a good thing. It's done more good things for me than it has not.

  Matthew McConaughey

  Thinking, Vanity, Done

  "Just Keep McConaugheying". Interview with Brett Martin, www.gq.com. October 20, 2014.

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• The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role -- unless you're just vain about celebrity. You're always looking for the one thing that will surprise you.

  Jonny Lee Miller

  Roles, Actors, Satisfaction

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• Not to be vain, but I have nice long legs, so I like to accentuate them. Find what part of your body you love most - it can be your arms, your chest, your legs - and emphasize that.

  Khloe Kardashian

  Nice, Long, Body

  "Khloe Kardashian On How She Plans To Spend Valentine’s Day With Lamar Odom". Interview with Sarah St. Lifer, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 14, 2012.

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• I lay down on the bed clasping the pictures and buried my face in the pillow in a vain attempt at silencing my sobs. But it was as if all my life's accumulated grief had finally found an outlet and was allowed to take its course. I screamed, I cried, until the grief became bearable. (174)

  Linda Olsson

  Grief, Faces, Bed

  Linda Olsson (2009). “Sonata for Miriam: A Novel”, p.114, Penguin

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• Even our smallest attempts are not in vain. We know that nothing is lost.

  Swami Vivekananda

  Lost, Smallest, Knows

  Swami Vivekananda (2015). “The Powers of The Mind”, p.21, editionNEXT.com

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• Let not one single life have passed in vain. What really matters is who you love and how you love.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Love, Single Life, Matter

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• In ancient times, people said that imperfect moves to becoming perfect. Are these words vain? No! Truly, by gaining Unity you come to Perfection!

  Laozi

  Moving, Knowledge, People

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• To illustrate the vain conceit that the universe must be somehow pre-ordained for us, because we are so well-suited to live in it, he [Douglas Adams] mimed a wonderfully funny imitation of a puddle of water, fitting itself snugly into a depression in the ground, the depression uncannily being exactly the same shape as the puddle.

  Richard Dawkins

  Water, Religion, Puddles

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• In vain I have looked for a single man capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself.

  Confucius

  Home, Men, Faults

  Confucius (1964). “The Analects of Confucius”

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• One had a lovely face,
  And two or three had charm,
  But charm and face were in vain.
  Because the mountain grass
  Cannot keep the form
  Where the mountain hare has lain.

  William Butler Yeats

  Two, Poetry, Lovely

  William Butler Yeats (2000). “The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats”, p.125, Wordsworth Editions

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• Observe this dew-drenched rose of Tyrian gardens A rose today. But you will ask in vain Tomorrow what it is; and yesterday It was the dust, the sunshine, and the rains.

  Christina Rossetti

  Rain, Flower, Sunshine

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