We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform — Promises

"And be these juggling fiends no more believd, That palter with us in a double sense: That keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope."

"Promises and Pye-Crusts,… are made to be broken."

"Promettre cest donner, espérer cest jouir."

"A man who had two sons ... went to the first and said, "Son, go out and work in my vineyard today." But he answered and said, "I will not," but afterward he repented of it and he went. And the father went to the second and said the same. But he answered, "I will, sir," and he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?"

"Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just. A significant part of economic and social life depends on the honoring of contracts between physical or moral persons - commercial contracts of purchase or sale, rental or labor contracts. All contracts must be agreed to and executed in good faith. Contracts are subject to commutative justice which regulates exchanges between persons and between institutions in accordance with a strict respect for their rights. Commutative justice obliges strictly; it requires safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and fulfilling obligations freely contracted. Without commutative justice, no other form of justice is possible."

"You never bade me hope, tis true; I asked you not to swear: But I looked in those eyes of blue, And read a promise there."