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

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

To use them for a foundation is to build on sand.

From With God in the World A Series of Papers by Brent, Charles H.

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

From The Framework of Home Rule by Childers, Erskine

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

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

To build on selfishness is to build on sand.

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