"Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return."
Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but originally meant considering one's own capabilities and that God's help was not needed, i.e. unjustified boasting; although g
"Deception, flattering, lying, deluding, talking behind the back, putting up a false front, living in borrowed splendor, wearing a mask, hiding behind convention, playing a role for others and for oneself — in short, a continuous fluttering around the solitary flame of vanity — is so much the rule and the law among men that there is almost nothing which is less comprehensible than how an honest and pure drive for truth could have arisen among them."
"And not a vanity is given in vain."
"Vanity not only distances us from God: it makes us look ridiculous."
"Every man at his best state is altogether vanity."
"It beareth the name of Vanity Fair, because the town where it is kept is "lighter than vanity."
"Il est difficile destimer quelquun comme il veut lêtre."