Quotes about promises

"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath."

Aeschylus on promises   

"Civilization rests on a set of promises; if the promises are broken too often, the civilization dies, no matter how rich it may be, or how mechanically clever. Hope and faith depend on the promises; if hope and faith go, everything goes."

Agar, Herbert on promises
6 fans of this quote   

"Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible."

Arendt, Hannah on promises   

"When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his ownself in his own hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then- he needn't hope to find himself again."

Bolt, Robert on promises   

"If you wish to be success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing."

Bonaparte, Napoleon on promises
3 fans of this quote   

"The best way to keep one's word is not to give it."

Bonaparte, Napoleon on promises
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"The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday --but never jam today."

Carroll, Lewis on promises   

"What a woman says to her avid lover should be written in wind and running water."

Catullus on promises   

"Promise is most given when the least is said."

Chapman, George on promises   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it."

Douglas, Norman on promises   

"All promise outruns performance."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on promises   

"But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."

Frost, Robert on promises
4 fans of this quote   

"He is poor indeed that can promise nothing."

Fuller, Thomas on promises   

"Thou ought to be nice, even to superstition, in keeping thy promises, and therefore equally cautious in making them."

Fuller, Thomas on promises   

"Better break your word than do worse in keeping it."

Fuller, Thomas on promises   

"Some persons make promises for the pleasure of breaking them."

Hazlitt, William on promises
3 fans of this quote   

"Half the promises people say were never kept, were never made."

Howe, Edgar Watson on promises   

"The man who promises everything is sure to fulfil nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition."

Jung, Carl on promises   

"The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present."

Machiavelli, Niccolo on promises
4 fans of this quote   

"A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise."

Machiavelli, Niccolo on promises
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"It is useless to hold a person to anything he says while he is in love, drunk, or running for office."

Maclaine, Shirley on promises
5 fans of this quote   

"The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one's self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course."

Michelangelo on promises   

"God never made a promise that was too good to be true."

Moody, Dwight L. on promises   

"Everyone's a millionaire where promises are concerned."

Ovid on promises   

"Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once."

Peale, Norman Vincent on promises
4 fans of this quote   

"He loses his thanks who promises and delays."

Proverb on promises   

"There are no greater promisers than those who have nothing to give."

Proverb on promises   

"In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone's letter."

Proverb, Chinese on promises
6 fans of this quote   

"Eggs and oaths are easily broken."

Proverb, Danish on promises
3 fans of this quote   

"Nothing weights lighter than a promise."

Proverb, German on promises   

"Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it."

Rousseau, Jean Jacques on promises   

"Between today and tomorrow are graves, and between promising and fulfilling are chasms."

Ruckett on promises   

"No pillows so soft as God's Promise."

Saying on promises   

"A promise made is a debt unpaid."

Service, Robert W. on promises   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Promises and pie crusts are made to be broken."

Swift, Jonathan on promises   

"One promises much, to avoid giving little."

Vauvenargues, Marquis De on promises   

"Where there is an unknowable, there is a promise."

Wilder, Thornton on promises
3 fans of this quote   

"Talk is cheap, but promises are expensive. Only use them on occasions."

Jvongard on promises