build on sand

Idioms  

1. Use an unstable foundation, as in If you buy nothing but high-risk stocks, your portfolio will be built on sand. This metaphor appears in the New Testament, where Jesus likens those who do not heed his sayings to a foolish man who builds his house on sand, which then is washed away by rain, flood, and wind (Matthew 7:24–27). [c. 1600]

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Example Sentences

To build on selfishness is to build on sand.

From Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 by Eddy, Mary Baker

I plough in water, build on sand, and write on air.

From The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch by Campbell, Thomas

He sees that the deepest truth can only build on sand, though itself is stationed on a rock; and can only assert its substance in the often changing forms of error.

From A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.) by Orr, Sutherland, Mrs.

In Ireland we must build on trust, or we build on sand.

From The Framework of Home Rule by Childers, Erskine

If you falter, or fail to fulfil this Golden Rule, though you should build to the heavens, you would build on sand.

From Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 by Eddy, Mary Baker