QuoteProject
Bad promises are better broken than kept.
Abraham Lincoln
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

It's sometimes better to break a promise than to fulfill a bad one.

This quote by Abraham Lincoln suggests that not all promises are worth keeping. When a promise leads to negative outcomes or is based on unrealistic expectations, it may be more prudent to break it rather than adhere to it for the sake of integrity. This reflects a deeper understanding that ethics and responsibilities must be measured against the context and potential consequences of our commitments.

Themes

PromisesIntegrityEthicsConsequencesDecision-Making

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about ethical dilemmas in business, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of valuing ethical outcomes over blind commitment.

More from Abraham Lincoln

I am like a man so busy in letting rooms in one end of his house, that he can't stop to put out the fire that is burning the other.
Abraham LincolnRead
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
Abraham LincolnRead
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham LincolnRead
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
Abraham LincolnRead
For it has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of their substance the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then is due to the soldier.
Abraham LincolnRead
And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Abraham LincolnRead

Similar quotes

ROMANCE, n. Fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of Things as They Are. In the novel the writer's thought is tethered to probability, but in romance it ranges at will over the entire region of the imagination . . .
Ambrose BierceRead
All lies are told with a straight face. It is truth that's said with a dismissive giggle.
P. J. O'RourkeRead
Our fathers and ourselves sowed dragon's teeth. Our children know and suffer the armed men.
Stephen Vincent BenetRead
Silence is the sea, and speech is like the river. The sea is seeking you: don't seek the river. Don't turn your head away from the signs offered by the sea.
RumiRead
Every sensation shares the same characteristic: it arises and passes away, arises and passes away. It is this arising and passing that we have to experience through practice, not just accept as truth because Buddha said so, not just accept because intellectually it seems logical enough to us. We must experience sensation’s nature, understand its flux, and learn not to react to it.
S. N. GoenkaRead
What we need to do is break the financial community's grip on society.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.