--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is easy to promise, and alas! How easy…" description: "\"It is easy to promise, and alas! How easy to forget!\" — Alfred de Musset" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/alfred-de-musset-4813_alas_it-is-easy-to-promise-and-alas-how-easy_1700934.jpg" --- # It is easy to promise, and alas! How easy to forget! ![“It is easy to promise, and alas! How easy to forget!” quote by Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/alfred-de-musset-4813_alas_it-is-easy-to-promise-and-alas-how-easy_1700934.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/alfred-de-musset-4813_alas_it-is-easy-to-promise-and-alas-how-easy_1700934.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/alfred-de-musset-4813_alas_it-is-easy-to-promise-and-alas-how-easy_1700934.jpg) > “It is easy to promise, and alas! How easy to forget!” [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Promises are easy, but remembering to keep them is hard. **In simple terms:** Promises are easy; keeping them is hard. Key Takeaway Focus on follow‑through. Themes commitment memory human nature Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - work projects - personal goals Key Concepts psychology ethics literature Questions to Reflect On - Why do we forget our promises? - How can we improve reliability? A Different Perspective People often overpromise and underdeliver. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas/) [Alas Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas-easy-1149007/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Easy Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-forget/) [Easy Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-promise-1149006/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Promise Alas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise-alas-1149008/) ## Related quotes > [Memory is ever active, ever true. Alas, if it were only as easy to forget!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninon-de-l-enclos/memory-is-ever-active-ever-true-alas-if-it-were-only-as-easy-to-forget/) [Ninon de L'Enclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninon-de-l-enclos/) > [When the monsoon rolls around, it is easy to forget about the world and dance away in the rain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mazher/when-the-monsoon-rolls-around-it-is-easy-to-forget-about-the-world/) [Mazher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mazher/) > [It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/it-s-easy-to-forget-things-you-don-t-need-anymore/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Mixed martial arts has small windows of opportunity and there's always new faces coming through, so it's easy to forget you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimi-manuwa/mixed-martial-arts-has-small-windows-of-opportunity-and-there-s/) [Jimi Manuwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimi-manuwa/) > [Never be easy to get, because you'll be easy to forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dyllan/never-be-easy-to-get-because-you-ll-be-easy-to-forget/) [Dyllan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dyllan/) > [It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/it-is-easy-to-forget-how-full-the-world-is-of-people-full-to-bursting/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I just knew that God wasn't there. He was a man on a throne in Heaven, so he was easy to forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-farmer/i-just-knew-that-god-wasn-t-there-he-was-a-man-on-a-throne-in-heaven/) [Frances Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-farmer/) > [Things done, Words said and Mistakes made are all easy to forget if Trust is alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/things-done-words-said-and-mistakes-made-are-all-easy-to-forget-if/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [As Time goes by , I realize now that I am not important. As you ignores me , You make this easy For me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misskazuha/as-time-goes-by-i-realize-now-that-i-am-not-important-as-you-ignores/) [MissKazuha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misskazuha/) > [“It's easy to forget when you're around." She stopped walking for a moment and I had to stop too, as she'd linked her arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-easy-to-forget-when-you-re-around-she-stopped-walking-for-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Its not easy to forget, but if you really want to, you can do it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-easy-to-forget-but-if-you-really-want-to-you-can-do-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is easy to forget that in the main we die only seven times more slowly than our dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/it-is-easy-to-forget-that-in-the-main-we-die-only-seven-times-more/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [In life you have to pick and choose your battles, it's easy to forget not to be at war with YOURSELF.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-life-you-have-to-pick-and-choose-your-battles-it-s-easy-to-forget/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How easy it is to forget grudges when someone has something you need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/how-easy-it-is-to-forget-grudges-when-someone-has-something-you-need/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [It is easy to forget someone who loved you than to forget the person you loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-easy-to-forget-someone-who-loved-you-than-to-forget-the-person/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Alfred de Musset > [Alas, everything that men say to one another is alike; the ideas they exchange are almost always the same, in their conversation. But inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/alas-everything-that-men-say-to-one-another-is-alike-the-ideas-they/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [A lively retrospect summons back to us once more our youth, with vivid reflex of its early joys and unstained pleasures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/a-lively-retrospect-summons-back-to-us-once-more-our-youth-with-vivid/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [The mouth keeps silent to hear the heart speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/the-mouth-keeps-silent-to-hear-the-heart-speak/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [The costliest women are the ones who cost nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/the-costliest-women-are-the-ones-who-cost-nothing/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [“During the wars of the Empire, while husbands and brothers were in Germany, anxious mothers gave birth to an ardent, pale, and neurotic generation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/during-the-wars-of-the-empire-while-husbands-and-brothers-were-in/) [Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [I don't know where my road is going, but I know that I walk better when I hold your hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/i-don-t-know-where-my-road-is-going-but-i-know-that-i-walk-better/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [“As soon as we entered I plunged into the giddy whirl of the waltz. That delightful exercise has always been dear to me; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/as-soon-as-we-entered-i-plunged-into-the-giddy-whirl-of-the-waltz/) [Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [As all the perfumes of the vanished dayRise from the earth still moistened with the dewSo from my chastened soul beneath thy rayOld love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/as-all-the-perfumes-of-the-vanished-dayrise-from-the-earth-still/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [It was one of those somber evenings when the sighing of the wind resembles the moans of a dying man; a storm was brewing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/it-was-one-of-those-somber-evenings-when-the-sighing-of-the-wind/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [“Your name, merely your name, floods my brain to a point of sweet disgust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/your-name-merely-your-name-floods-my-brain-to-a-point-of-sweet-disgust/) [Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [Partake of love as a temperate man partakes of wine; do not become intoxicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/partake-of-love-as-a-temperate-man-partakes-of-wine-do-not-become/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/how-glorious-it-is-and-also-how-painful-to-be-an-exception/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [“Laurette ! Laurette ! Ah ! je me sens plus lâche qu’une femme. Mon désespoir me tue ; il faut que je pleure. ( RAZETTA )”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/laurette-laurette-ah-je-me-sens-plus-l-che-qu-une-femme-mon-d-sespoir/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [Christianity ruined emperors, but saved peoples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/christianity-ruined-emperors-but-saved-peoples/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [life is a deep sleep of which love is the dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/life-is-a-deep-sleep-of-which-love-is-the-dream/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) [Explore all 82 Alfred de Musset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) ## More Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) [Browse all 453 Alas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is easy to promise, and alas! 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