I never could keep a promise. I do not blame myself for this weakness, because the fault must lie in my physical organization. It is likely that such a very liberal amount of space was given to the organ which enables me to make promises that the organ which should enable me to keep them was crowded out. But I grieve not. I like no half-way things. I had rather have one faculty nobly developed than two faculties of mere ordinary capacity.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Nothing weights lighter than a promise.
—German Proverb
If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
This is the first convention of the space age – where a candidate can promise the moon and mean it.
—Unknown
An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise.
—Jeremiah Brown Howell
He loses his thanks who promises and delays.
—Common Proverb
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
To promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
A vow is fixed and unalterable determination to do a thing, when such a determination is related to something noble which can only uplift the man who makes the resolve.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Thou ought to be nice, even to superstition, in keeping thy promises, and therefore equally cautious in making them.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
A promise is a cloud; fulfillment is the rain.
—Arabic Proverb
Oaths are but words, and words but wind.
—Samuel Butler
Promises may fit the friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
All promise outruns performance.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
And be these juggling friends no more believ’d,
That palter with us in a double sense;
That keep the word of promise to our ear
And break it to our hope.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
We promise according to our hopes, but perform according to our selfishness and our fears.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises that one makes.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
For every promise, there is a price to pay. If the promise is clear, the price is easy.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
‘Tis not the many oaths that make the truth; But the plain single vow, that is vow’d true.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
If you wish to be success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Half the promises people say were never kept, were never made.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Everyone’s a millionaire where promises are concerned.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Personally, I hold that a man, who deliberately and intelligently takes a pledge and then breaks it, forfeits his manhood.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Vows are made in storms and forgotten in calm weather.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Hasty resolutions are of the nature of vows, and to be equally avoided.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
Being of no power to make his wishes good:
His promises fly so beyond his state
That what he speaks is all in debt; he owes
For every word.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Promises make debt, and debt makes promises.
—Dutch Proverb
Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
He is poor indeed that can promise nothing.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Between today and tomorrow are graves, and between promising and fulfilling are chasms.
—Friedrich Ruckert (1788–1866) German Poet, Translator
The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill 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.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
There are no greater promisers than those who have nothing to give.
—Common Proverb
Every organization of men, be it social or political, ultimately relies on man’s capacity for making promises and keeping them.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
No pillows so soft as God’s Promise.
—Common Proverb
It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
God never made a promise that was too good to be true.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
Rarely promise, but, if lawful, constantly perform.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
It is the purpose that makes strong the vow; But vows to every purpose must not hold.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
No pillow so soft as God’s promise.
—Unknown
It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
Some persons make promises for the pleasure of breaking them.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Your capacity to keep your vow will depend on the purity of your life.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
A politician is known by the promises he keeps.
—Unknown
The righteous promise little and do much.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
He was ever precise in promise-keeping.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright