quotations about promises
Never raise expectations in others that you cannot realize: promise is less pleasing than disappointment is vexatious.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
Promise was a pretty maid,
But being poor she died unwed.
GEORGE ELIOT
Middlemarch
There is something so ludicrous in promises of good or threats of evil a great way off as to render the whole subject with which they are connected easily turned into ridicule.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
speech, February 22, 1842
Some promises aren't worth keeping.
HOLLY BLACK
Black Heart
The promises we break are usually such as we are most forward in making.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
A promise is a debt.
J. J. ENGEL
attributed, Day's Collacon
Expect nothing from him who promises a great deal.
JEAN VENERONI
attributed, Day's Collacon