A Promise (n.) one can control as actions but not as feelings. I can promise to always treat you as one who loves but I can't promise to always love you.
The Promise (n.) is the essence and aim of man — The breeding of an animal that can promise - is not this precisely the task that nature has set herself in man?
A Promise (n.) can bind actions but never feelings: to swear eternal love honestly is to promise the continuation of love's appearance.
A Promise (n.) lives in what remains unspoken behind the words; the words even weaken it by spending its strength — extend your hand and lay a finger on your lips.
A Promise (n.) to breed an animal with the right to make promises is the paradoxical task nature set itself in man — the real problem regarding man.