Quotes about promise
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“The question is… How did a girl like Annabelle manage to talk a man like you into joining our silly little family party?”

Annabelle smiled sweetly. “I promised he could tie me up afterward and spank me.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1948) American writer

Source: Match Me If You Can

Family, Smile, Girl, Question

“I know you feel inhuman, and as if you are set apart, away from life and love, but… I promise you, the right man won't care.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

Love, Life, Feeling

“Nothing bears out in practice what it promises incipiently.”

John Irving book A Prayer for Owen Meany

Source: A Prayer for Owen Meany

“I can promise you books and conversation and all my heart.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Books, Heart

“The sky was a rich, mindless, never-ending blue, like a promise of some ridiculous glory that wasn’t really there.”

Donna Tartt book The Goldfinch

Source: The Goldfinch

“Why have you come to me here, dear heart, with all these instructions? I promise you I will do everything just as you ask. But come closer. Let us give in to grief, however briefly, in each other's arms.”

Homér Iliad

Source: The Iliad

Heart

“Could it be as simple as that? Could love be not grand gestures or empty vows, not promises meant to be broken, but instead a paper trail of forgiveness? A line of crumbs made of memories, to lead you back to the person who was waiting?”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Leaving Time

Love, Forgiveness, Memory, Waiting

“Zeus will destroy you!' she promised. 'Hades will have your soul!'
'' I yelled
I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant 'Eat my pants!”

Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief

Source: The Lightning Thief

Soul, Thinking

“She was alive, and they were dead. She had to try to make her life big. As big as she could. She promised Bailey she would keep playing.”

Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Source: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Life, Dead

“maybe there is more to a person than a body and a mind. maybe something else figures into the mix— not a soul, exactly, but a spirit that hints you might one day be greater, stronger than you are now. a promise; a potential.”

Jodi Picoult book Keeping Faith

Source: Keeping Faith

Soul, Personality

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely; and if you surrender your personal responsibility to a government which promises to take care of you, they will only take care of themselves.”

Howard Nemerov (1920–1991) Poet

Personality

“Marry me. You'll learn to love me, I promise.”

Robyn Carr American writer

Source: Sunrise Point

Love, Learning

“There is no relationship in life that comes with the promise of zero pain.”

Obert Skye Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want

Source: Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want

Life, Pain

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: The Great Gatsby

World, Beauty, Time

“Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelms us.”

Jerry Bridges (1929–2016) American writer

Source: Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

God, Soul, Time

“When you make a solemn promise to a friend, it ain't right to go back on it. No. Never let your friend down, never break a trust, and when you give your word, never go back on it.

-Sheriff Andy Taylor”

Lauren Myracle (1969) American children's writer

Source: Bliss

“I guess I was wrong when I said I never promised anyone. I promised me.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

“School has become the world religion of a modernized proletariat, and makes futile promises of salvation to the poor of the technological age.”

Ivan Illich book Deschooling Society

Source: Deschooling Society

Age, World, School, Religion

“I have to warn you. I promised my mother, a long time ago. She said I had to give folks a chance to walk away.”

Lee Child book Nothing to Lose

Source: Nothing to Lose

Chance, Time

“Sex must be mixed with tears, laughter, words, promises, scenes, jealousy, envy, all the spices of fear, foreign travel, new faces, novels, stories, dreams, fantasies, music, dancing, opium, wine.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Source: The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

Fear, Jealousy, Dreams, Music

“The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep.”

Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible

Source: The Poisonwood Bible

Life, Death

“… there were no guarantees in life, only promises and whispers.”

Danielle Steel (1947) American author of romance novels

Life

“I love you John Tyree, and I'm going to hold you to the promise you once made me. If you come back, I'll marry you. If you break your promise, you'll break my heart.”

Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist

Love, Heart

“This is my story; I promise to leave nothing out.
First you will smile, and then you will cry - don't say you haven't been warned.”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Variant: First you will smile, and then you will cry -- don't say you haven't been warned.
Source: A Walk to Remember

Smile, Cry

“Every new book I read comes to be a part of that overall and unitary book that is the sum of my readings… if you need little to set the imagination going, I require even less: the promise of reading is enough.”

Italo Calvino (1923–1985) Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels

Source: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

Books, Imagination, Reading, Parting

“There is still that singular perfection, and it's perfect in part because it seemed, at the time, so clearly to promise more.”

Michael Cunningham book The Hours

Source: The Hours

Time, Parting, Perfection

“Secrets had an immense attraction to him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to.”

Kenneth Grahame book The Wind in the Willows

Source: The Wind in the Willows

Secret, Animals

“Politicians promise you heaven before election and give you hell after”

Emma Goldman (1868–1940) anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches

Hell

“In poor countries, officials receive explicit bribes; in D. C. they get the sophisticated, implicit, unspoken promise to work for large corporations”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb book The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Country

“Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.”

William Barclay (1907–1978) Church of Scotland minister and academic

Source: The Gospel of Luke

Happiness

“There was no particular point at which I stopped being promising.”

Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) American writer, editor, and professor

“There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters”

Daniel Webster (1782–1852) Leading American senator and statesman. January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852. Served as the Secretary of Sta…

A speech delivered at Niblo’s Saloon, in New York, on the 15 of March, 1837. The Works of Daniel Webster, Boston, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851, vol. 1, p. 358 http://books.google.com/books?id=9DMOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA358&lpg=PA358&dq=%22They+mean+to+govern+well%3B+but+they+mean+to+govern%22&source=bl&ots=oJ6IWDhF2B&sig=iYuDQMQjnHzxMjzbd6rJohrXVrQ&hl=en&ei=xqYqTKDpFML-nAeF2omjAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22They%20mean%20to%20govern%20well%3B%20but%20they%20mean%20to%20govern%22&f=false. Context: There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters.

Men, Age

“And then Mircea finally let me down, only to get his hands inside the coat and push me against the wall.
“I’m dirty,” I protested.
He waggled his eyebrows. “Promise?”
“Mircea!” I laughed in spite of myself…”

Karen Chance American writer

Source: Hunt the Moon

“I love life, even when bad things happen to me. I can't stop loving it. Every season of the year comes with a promise that something wonderful is going to happen to me someday.”

Judith McNaught (1944) American writer

Source: Something Wonderful

Love, Life, Season

“I've made mistakes. More than my share. Hopefully, I've learned from them, but can't guarentee anything. There's only one thing I can promise. I'm taking this to the end."
-Bobby Pendragon”

D.J. MacHale (1955) American television director and producer

Learning

“So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live.”

Rich Mullins (1955–1997) American christian musician

Lufkin, Texas http://www.kidbrothers.net/words/concert-transcripts/lufkin-texas-jul1997-full.html (July 19, 1997) In Concert

Dead

“It is," I said. "And it's not even difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx." "What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?" "Someone once told me," I said, looking at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath." Hades shrugged. "Guilty.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

“This world is full of broken things: broken hearts, broken promises, broken people”

John Connolly (1968) author

Source: The Unquiet

People, World, Heart

“I shot you, all right," he said, "and you lost something, but you gained something as well. You just don't know it yet. I gained something, too."

What?"

I got to keep my promise. I didn't leave you behind.”

Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

“I shall pray for your soul,' promised Nessarose.
I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered.”

Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Shoe, Soul, Waiting

“… Families are Forever, and wondered if the slogan was meant as a promise or a threat.”

Brady Udall book The Lonely Polygamist

Source: The Lonely Polygamist

Family

“He does not exist here, with me, but flesh that does not exist will never die, and promises unmade are never broken.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“I know you. I know this isn't you. And even if it is, I still love you. As much as I always have. You will always be mine. I will always love you, I promised you that when you left, and it's true now.”

Melissa de la Cruz (1971) American writer

Source: Gates of Paradise

Love

“Government has no wealth, and when a politician promises to give you something for nothing, he must first confiscate that wealth from you -- either by direct taxes, or by the cruelly indirect tax of inflation.”

John Wayne (1907–1979) American film actor

Wealth

“I am stuffing your mouth with your
promises and watching
you vomit them out upon my face.”

Anne Sexton (1928–1974) poet from the United States

"Killing the Love"
45 Mercy Street (1976)
Source: The Complete Poems

“Promise you won't forget me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred.”

A.A. Milne book The House at Pooh Corner

Source: The House at Pooh Corner

Forgetting

“He joked while Dali cut him, mangling the words with his monstrous jaws, snarled with a pretended rage and dramatically promised to "kirrrl youraaalll for this!”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Strikes

Rage

“And so a person can never promise to love someone forever because you never know what might come up, what terrible thing the person you love might do.”

Anita Shreve (1946–2018) American writer

Source: Testimony

Love, Personality

“In a kinder world," he whispered, "one I promise you I've seen, men and women flirt and dance and love with only the fear of what it would mean without the other in their lives.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Froi of the Exiles

Love, Women, Men, World

“I will You, in all, Myself, with promise to never desert you,
To which I sign my name.”

Walt Whitman book Fulles d'herba

Source: Leaves of Grass

“If you start by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work towards getting it.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

“Oh, I never kid about Artemis. I promised her I’d sit here and do nothing, so here I am doing nothing. Much like a really tall, bored guard dog. Personally, I’d rather be throwing myself onto an electric fence- be about the same, I think. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Devil May Cry

Dogs, Thinking, Personality

“Beirut is the Elizabeth Taylor of cities: insane, beautiful, falling apart, aging, and forever drama laden. She'll also marry any infatuated suitor who promises to make her life more comfortable, no matter how inappropriate he is.”

Rabih Alameddine book An Unnecessary Woman

Source: An Unnecessary Woman

Life, Age, Beauty

“Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

Future

“Oh, I am getting married," Raisa said sleepily. "You promised me that if I agreed to marry you, that you would make it happen." She extended her hand, the one with the ring Han had given her, and waved it under his nose. "So. It's time to pay up.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Crimson Crown

Time

“In this life, no matter what anyone promises you, what allegiances of love or fealty they swear or what gods they pray to, you will never have more than what you have at this moment.”

Richard Kadrey (1957) San Francisco-based novelist, freelance writer, and photographer

Love, Life, God

“If I pass out face down in this water, will you fish me out?"
"Will you promise to call me Your Majesty?"
"Hell no."
"Then I'll have to think about it.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

Hell, Thinking, Fish, Water

“There is a dead spot in the night, that coldest, blackest time when the world has forgotten evening and dawn is not yet a promise. A time when it is far too early to arise, but so late that going to bed makes small sense.”

Robin Hobb book Assassin's Quest

Source: Assassin's Quest

World, Sense, Time, Night

“I was a heartless, ungrateful wench of a girl who promised everyone who came into contact with me a one-way ticket to pain and hurt. I didn’t know how to love and I didn’t deserve to be loved back.”

Sarra Manning (1950) British writer

Love, Pain, Way, Girl

“Thirty — the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: Quoted, The Great Gatsby (1925), ch. 7

Men, Loneliness

“Brian Andreas Promise #1:
Promises to Myself #1: I will tell the truth unless I get confused & I think I could get in real trouble if someone found out, in which case, I will lie as convincingly as possible for as long as I feel the need.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Truth, Lie, Feeling, Thinking

“Except, now that I don’t have a car, I can’t really make good on my birthday promise.”

Sydney thought about it for several moments. “Well. I’ve got a car.”

An hour later, I vowed I’d never make fun of that Mazda again.”

Richelle Mead book The Fiery Heart

Source: The Fiery Heart

Cars, Birthday

“Some men would take happiness where they found it. Especially when they have absolutely no promise of it anywhere else. [Rydstrom]”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Men, Happiness

“Trust in tomorrow… Every day of your life, there's been a tomorrow. I promise you, there'll be a tomorrow.

—Alex Morales to Miranda Evans”

Susan Beth Pfeffer (1948) American writer

Source: This World We Live In

Life

“… Promises are more dangerous then secrets.”

Aimee Friedman (1979) American writer

Secret

“I'd wanted a real kiss, something to remember, but i'd long ago learned not to be picky with farewells. They weren't guaranteed or promised. You were lucky, more than blessed, if you got a goodbye at all.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Variant: But I'd long ago learned not to be picky in farewells. They weren't guaranteed or promised.
You were lucky, more than blessed, if you got a good-bye at all.
Source: The Truth About Forever

Kiss, Learning

“I cannot kill him, she muttered to herself. I cannot kill him. I promised Bianka I'd stop at ten bodies a day, and I've already surpassed my quota for the fifth day in a row. I cannot kill him.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: The Darkest Secret

“When I read a book, I want you to be reading it at the same time. I want to know what would Amelia think of it. I want you to be mine. I can promise you books and conversation and all my heart, Amy.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Books, Thinking, Time, Reading

“I was behaving, just like I promised, but fate intervened.”

Katherine Paterson Preacher's Boy

Source: Preacher's Boy

Fate

“So many things you promise yourself you won't get used to, and then you do.”

Kamila Shamsie book Burnt Shadows

Source: Burnt Shadows

“We shall throw him out onto the streets, I promise you he'll be gone by morning.
Oh-no, you can't mean that-
Of course I don't. But you felt better for a moment there, didn't you?”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“God's plan is not to abandon this world, the world which he said was "very good." Rather, he intends to remake it. And when he does he will raise all his people to new bodily life to live in it. That is the promise of the Christian gospel.”

N.T. Wright (1948) Anglican bishop

Source: Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense

Life, God, People, World

“If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it's within your reach. And it'll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It'll be worth it, I promise.”

Steve Wozniak book iWoz

Source: iWoz (2006), p. 300

Love, Thinking, Night

“Experience had quickly taught her that she could not survive the storms without the anchor of the constraining love of Christ and what she called the "Rock-counsciousness" of the promise given her, "He goeth before.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Source: A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael

Love, Christ

“Every man has a weakness!” he patiently explained. “I'll find theirs, I promise you.”
“Every man?”
“Yes,” he answered emphatically.
…
“What is your weakness, Brodick?” she asked.
“You.”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

Source: Ransom

“I want to talk to you. I want to listen to you. I want to walk with you and, yes, I want you in my bed. That's what I want today. That's what I'll want in a hundred years. If you promise to be my wife forever, I will pledge myself to your happiness.”

Christina Dodd (1957) American writer

Source: Rules of Attraction

Happiness

“What you did tonight was clever,” Wit said. “You turned an attack into a promise. The wisest of men know that to render an insult powerless, you often need only to embrace it.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

Men

“Promise me no promises,
So will I not promise you:
Keep we both our liberties,
Never false and never true:
Let us hold the die uncast,
Free to come as free to go:
For I cannot know your past,
And of mine what can you know?”

Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) English poet

Past, Falseness

“You call that evening the odds? You demolished them."
Demolished. He liked that. "I left you one."
"I noticed."
"I promised to share," he told her. "Manners are very important in the Weird. Lying would be quite impolite.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Bayou Moon

Lying

“Didn't I promise I'd always look after you and keep you from harm?”

Alyson Nöel book Shadowland

Source: Shadowland

“By the way, only a real man can accept his feminine side."
"I don't know who fed you that line of garbage, but I can promise she's laughing at you right now.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: The Darkest Seduction

Way

“I stared at her black hair. It was shiny like the promises in magazines.”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

Source: The Lovely Bones

“Very well, I will marry you if you promise not to make me eat eggplant.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Love in the Time of Cholera

Source: Love in the Time of Cholera

“If you promise you will get better instead of dying, I promise I will, too.”

Jordan Sonnenblick (1969) American writer

Source: Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Besides, when not hard at work with this research, I'm actually conducting a side experiment on how cigarettes and gin increase charisma. As you might guess, the results are looking very promising.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

“A politician is someone who promises a bridge even when there's no water”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Water

“I can't promise we'll ever use you for a hasty getaway," Cole said, "but with a little work, you might be able to race my grandmother-while she's on her scooter.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: Alice in Zombieland

“She mediated, by turns, on broken promises and broken arches, phaetons and false hangings, Tilneys and trap-doors.”

Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey

Source: Northanger Abbey

Falseness

“He took her face in his bloody hands. "I’ll come and find you wherever you are. I’ll not stop breathing until I do. So you’re going to have to promise me that you won’t lose hope. That you will keep yourself alive.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Froi of the Exiles

Hope

“We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes.”

Winston S. Churchill book The Second World War

Radio broadcast, London, Dieu Protège La France [God protect France], October 21, 1940 ( partial text http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/LaFrance.html). The Second World War (1939–1945)

Fish, Waiting

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep”

Robert Frost Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

General sources Source: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1923) http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171621 Context: 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.

Love, Deep, Good Night

“I needed to choose between the one thing that really filled m thoughts-my love for that woman-and losing my freedom and all the choices that the future promised me. To be honest, the decision was easy.
-Lukas Jessen-Petersen”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: The Witch Of Portobello

Love, Decision, Freedom, Future

“If you come back; I'll marry you. If you break your promise, you'll break my heart”

Nicholas Sparks book Dear John

Source: Dear John

Heart