You can't spend all your life chasing shadows.

你不能一辈子追求虚无缥缈的东西。

《牛津词典》

Instead, he traipsed around the world, chasing shadows.

相反，他却在世界上长途跋涉，追逐着影子。

youdao

As the west flourished, the party propaganda seemed to be chasing shadows.

当西方繁荣时，党的宣传机构似乎是在捕风捉影。

youdao

They took the lead through an early Barkley penalty and their superb off-loading game soon had Saracens chasing shadows.

BBC: Bath 66-21 Saracens

Not that United's backline needed to be at its strongest, with Pompey chasing shadows for much of the game as Nani, Antonio Valencia and Rooney ran riot.

BBC: Man Utd 5-0 Portsmouth

Nuno Gomes and Conceicao went close for Portugal, while the Scots were reduced to chasing shadows for long spells and didn't threaten a goal until a Christian Dailly header drifted narrowly wide in the 90th minute.

BBC: Scots sink in Portugal