Gary Zukav

We are becoming able to see the pursuit of external power for what it is and the futility of trying to escape the pain of powerlessness by changing the world. When we look inward, not outward, we can dismantle the parts of our personalities that have controlled us for so long - such as anger, jealousy, vindictiveness, superiority, inferiority.

American Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.

American Leader

George Carlin

Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.

American Comedian

John Piper

God created a good world that was subjected to futility because of the sinful, treasonous choice of the first human beings.

American Clergyman

Dwight D. Eisenhower

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

American President

Errol Morris

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it without a sense of ironic futility.

American Director

Emil Cioran

Since all life is futility, then the decision to exist must be the most irrational of all.

Romanian Philosopher

H. G. Wells

Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge.

English Author

Robert Fripp

My life as a professional musician is a joyless exercise in futility.

English Musician

John Prine

American Singer

Understand that 'futility' implies any effort made will not change the outcome.

Impact of Effort

'Futility' often carries a sense of resignation or disappointment.

Emotional Weight

'Futility' doesn't always mean the action was bad, just that it didn't lead to success.

Not Always Negative

'Futility' is felt when there's a strong contrast between what was hoped for and what actually happened.

Expectation vs. Reality

The term 'futility' doesn't imply everything failed, only the ultimate goal wasn't achieved.

Scale of Success

Use 'futility' carefully, as it may offend if the effort in question is meaningful to someone.

Context Sensitivity

 It was like, you know, she was there in the class, you know, she was kind of typically French. You know, she was very chic, but she was very filled with ennui, you know. And she would be there, you know, kind of talking with the class, you know, talking about the, you know, the existential futility of life, you know.

One woman, eight...

 only to see it roll back down and have to start again. So long as we teach young people that there is nothing more real or meaningful in their lives than this hopeless quest for perfection, then we are going to condemn future generations to that same futility and despair.

Our dangerous obsession...

 just like me, and that we had the power to detect that at about a quarter of the strengths reported in the initial study. We did that one year ahead of the time when the first clinical trial funded by the NIH for millions of dollars failed for futility last week,

Jamie Heywood: The big...

 it was that second part, being able to successfully communicate to others whatever knowledge I was gaining, where the futility of my quest really set in. Time after time, whenever I set out to share some great truth with a soon-to-be grateful recipient,

Chris Bliss: Comedy is...

 horrible terrifying deaths the second notion is that wildlife play a big important role in the maintenance of the rabies virus and therefore for people that work on the disease it feels like it's an exercise in futility that if you

Misconceptions about...

 The cruelty of his punishment lies in its singular futility, but Camus argues all of humanity is in the same position. And only when we accept the meaninglessness of our lives can we face the absurd with our heads held high.

Is life meaningless? And...

 dreams of material possession and accomplishment are tinged with dark futility after I left the Ansel Adams studio and began to travel in this area I also wanted to linger after a series of trips I decided to slow down and

National Geographic...

 I was very angry, very frustrated and then depressed. There was a sense of futility that we are fighting a fight that we have no hope of winning. I had to change my approach. I had to become more reasonable

My Country Will Be...

 to make meaning of the world around us through materials. And for me, to try and find the kind of wonder, but also a kind of futility that lies in that very fragile pursuit, is part of my art work.

How we experience time...

 and the futility of life. "Out, out, brief candle!" he laments. "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage