Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises.
Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow,--attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.
Promises are like the full moon: if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day.
Man is not logical and his intellectual history is a record of mental reserves and compromises. He hangs on to what he can in his old beliefs even when he is compelled to surrender their logical basis.
I thought he was a young man of promise, but it appears he is a young man of promises. [Speaking Of Winston Churchill].
Thou ought to be nice, even to superstition, in keeping thy promises, and therefore equally cautious in making them.
The man who promises everything is sure to fulfil 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.
The Divine Perfections. How shall I praise th' eternal God, That Infinite Unknown? Who can ascend his high abode, Or venture near his throne? The great invisible! He dwells Conceal'd in dazzling light: But his all-searching eye reveals The secrets of the night. Those watchful eyes that never sleep, Survey the world around; His wisdom is the boundless deep, Where all our thoughts are drown'd. He knows no shadow of a change, Nor alters his decrees; Firm as a rock his truth remains, To guard his promises. Justice, upon a dreadful throne, Maintains the rights of God; While mercy sends her pardons down, Bought with a Saviour's blood. Now to my soul immortal King, Speak some forgiving word; Then `twill be double joy to sing The glories of my Lord.
Feast of Perpetua, Felicity & their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203 The term "baptism in (or of) the Spirit" conjures up the idea of a separate initiatory experience which every Christian ought to enjoy, whereas evangelicalism is noted for its stress upon a "conversion" experience which marks the beginning of the believer's relationship to his Lord. Too often, alas, conversion has been the end as well as the beginning, with the result that some Christians have looked back, with mingled delight and wistfulness to a past event that now seems to have diminished relevance to daily living. We can fully understand, then, the appeal of a movement which promises a new dimension of Christian living, there in the New Testament, and now available in everyday experience.
Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.
What are facts but compromises? A fact merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease.
People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.
He who promises runs in debt.
Oft expectation fails and most oft there Where most it promises, and oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most fits.
I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend. Abraham Lincoln There is no little enemy. â¢Benjamin Franklin The friend of my enemy is my enemy. â¢Anonymous With friends like this, who needs enemies? â¢Henny Youngman It is impossible for one person to know another so well that he can dispense with belief. â¢Friedrich Durrenmatt The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes. â¢Aesop The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy. â¢Sam Levenson It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. â¢William Blake He hasn't an enemy in the world - but all his friends hate him. â¢Eddie Cantor You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. â¢Eric Hoffer I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business. â¢Bette Davis It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. â¢Sally Kempton We learn our virtues from our friends who love us; our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot easily discover our real character from a friend. He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath impedes the clearness of the reflection. â¢Ricther Mankind's worst enemy is fear of work. â¢Anonymous Enemies promises were made to be broken. â¢Aesop The worst tyrants are those which establish themselves in our own breasts. â¢William Ellery Channing You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends. â¢Joseph Conrad Love your enemies just in case your friends turn out to be a bunch of bastards. â¢R A Dickson I have met the enemy, and it is the eyes of other people. â¢Benjamin Franklin A wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool from his friends. â¢Baltasar Gracian I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends. They're the ones that keep me walking the floor nights! â¢Warren Gamaliel Harding Man's chief enemy is his own unruly nature and the dark forces put up within him. â¢Ernest Jones Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. â¢John F. Kennedy Only enemies speak the truth. Friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. â¢Stephen King Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves. â¢Francois De La Rochefoucauld There is no stronger bond of friendship than a mutual enemy. â¢Frankfort Moore He who lives by fighting with an enemy has an interest in the preservation of the enemy's life. â¢Friedrich Nietzsche Bear patiently with a rival. â¢Ovid Talk well of your friends and of your enemies say nothing. â¢Proverb Was it a friend or foe that spread these lies? Nay, who but infants question in such wise, 'twas one of my most intimate enemies. â¢Dante Gabriel Rossetti Remember, to them it is us who are the enemy. â¢N. F. Simpson Convince an enemy, convince him that he's wrong. To win a bloodless battle, the victory is long. A simple act of faith, reason over might. To blow up his children would only prove him right. â¢Gordon Sumner One enemy can do more hurt than ten friends can do good. â¢Jonathan Swift In my life, I have prayed but one prayer: oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.
The future is as bright as the promises of God.
Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises; and oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most fits.
I often wish ... that I could rid the world of the tyranny of facts. What are facts but compromises? A fact merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease.
The future is as bright as the promises of God.
Gambling promises the poor what property performs for the richâ something for nothing.
In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it's a false promise predicated on the idea that the opposite of security is risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.
Whatever task that you undertake, do it with all your heart and soul. Always be courteous, never be discouraged. Beware of him who promises something for nothing. Do not blame anybody for your mistakes and failures. Do not look for approval except in the consciousness of doing your best. -Bernard M. Baruch.
Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible.
It is a curious thing that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilised taste.
I'd rather keep my promises to other politicians than to God. God, at least, has a degree of forgiveness.