Honor is but an empty bubble.
Those who have nothing else to recommend them to the respect of others but only their blood, cry it up at a great rate, and have their mouth perpetually full of it. They swell and vapor, and you are sure to hear of their families and relations every third word.
Up to his twenty-sixth year, the heart of Ignatius was enthralled by the vanities of the world. His special delight was in the military life, and he seemed led by a strong and empty desire of gaining for himself a great name.
The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry is like the potato - the best part under ground.
Our pleasance here is all vain glory, This false world is but transitory.
The fool shouts loudly, thinking to impress the world.
The common practice of keeping up appearances with society is a mere selfish struggle of the vain with the vain.
What is there in being able to say that one has dominated the stream in an attitude of self-defense; in proving that one has had the experience of carrying a stick?
As in some Irish houses, where things are so-so, One gammon of bacon hangs up for a show; But, for eating a rasher of what they take pride in, They'd as soon think of eating the pan it is fried in.