#vain

The mastery of nature is vainly believed to be an adequate substitute for self mastery. ↗

— Reinhold Niebuhr

#believed #mastery #nature #self #substitute

On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#climb #either #higher #mountains #never

The martyr sacrifices themselves entirely in vain. Or rather not in vain; for they make the selfish more selfish, the lazy more lazy, the narrow narrower. ↗

— Florence Nightingale

#lazy #make #martyr #more #narrow

Some think the worst horrors of war might be avoided by an international agreement not to use atomic bombs. This is a vain hope. ↗

— John Boyd Orr

#atomic #atomic bombs #avoided #bombs #hope

When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain. ↗

— William Shakespeare

#seldom #spent #vain #words

To be a man's own fool is bad enough, but the vain man is everybody's. ↗

— William Penn

#enough #everybody #fool #man #own

Whatever you do for the sole purpose of having others admire you, your efforts will most likely be in vain. ↗

— Dave Pelzer

#efforts #having #likely #most #others

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. Don't let yourself indulge in vain wishes. ↗

— Laurence J. Peter

#indulge #merely #sea #standing #staring

In outward show so splendid and so vain; 'tis but a gilded block without a brain. ↗

— Phaedrus

#brain #gilded #outward #show #splendid

Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. ↗

— Alexander Pope

#charms #eyes #may #merit #pretty