--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What's important is promising something…" description: "\"What's important is promising something to the people, not actually keeping those promises. The people have always lived on hope alone.\" — Hermann Broch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/hermann-broch-16029_hope_what-s-important-is-promising-something_3206620.png" --- # What's important is promising something to the people, not… ![“What's important is promising something to the people, not actually keeping those promises. The people have always lived on hope alone.” quote by Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/hermann-broch-16029_hope_what-s-important-is-promising-something_3206620.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/hermann-broch-16029_hope_what-s-important-is-promising-something_3206620.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/hermann-broch-16029_hope_what-s-important-is-promising-something_3206620.png) > “What's important is promising something to the people, not actually keeping those promises. The people have always lived on hope alone.” [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often rely on hope rather than concrete fulfillment of promises, making rhetoric more powerful than action. **In simple terms:** Hope replaces real delivery. Key Takeaway Focus on delivering, not just promising. Themes politics trust hope leadership Mood skeptical reflective Type political critical When to use this quote - campaign promises - public policy - community expectations - leadership speeches Key Concepts social contract expectation management Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders balance hope with tangible results? - What mechanisms ensure accountability? A Different Perspective Promises without delivery erode credibility over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Important Promising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-promising-5974448/) [Keeping promises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keeping-promises/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Promises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promises/) [Promises People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promises-people-795125/) [Promising People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promising-people-651313/) [What 's important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-s-important/) ## Related quotes > [“Nothing was irrevocable; everything was within reach... I could make promises to myself and to other people and there would be all the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/nothing-was-irrevocable-everything-was-within-reach-i-could-make/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [People with good intensions make promises but people with good characters keep them .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/people-with-good-intensions-make-promises-but-people-with-good/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I have never moved away from my promises to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/i-have-never-moved-away-from-my-promises-to-people/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [Promises were made for people who do not trust each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/promises-were-made-for-people-who-do-not-trust-each-other/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [In the winter, things are dead and dull, but then there is an explosion of life. That's what He promises people who believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-robertson/in-the-winter-things-are-dead-and-dull-but-then-there-is-an-explosion/) [Si Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-robertson/) > [“The road of life is strewn with the bodies of promising people. People who show promise, yet lack the confidence to act. People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/the-road-of-life-is-strewn-with-the-bodies-of-promising-people-people/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [Ferrari always tries to get the best possible drivers, and my fellow team members have always been highly promising people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schumacher/ferrari-always-tries-to-get-the-best-possible-drivers-and-my-fellow/) [Michael Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schumacher/) > [Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/promises-are-the-uniquely-human-way-of-ordering-the-future/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [ In each of \[my\] actions, I'm keeping my promises to the American people. These are campaign promises. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/in-each-of-my-actions-i-m-keeping-my-promises-to-the-american-people/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Keeping a promises was really hard especially when you yourself need to broke it for the sake of someone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariejoie-uro/keeping-a-promises-was-really-hard-especially-when-you-yourself-need/) [Mariejoie Uro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariejoie-uro/) > [“Love isn't about keeping promises. It's about knowing someone better than anyone else. I'm the only one who knows him. I'm the only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-tinti/love-isn-t-about-keeping-promises-it-s-about-knowing-someone-better/) [Hannah Tinti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-tinti/) > [Promises may get thee friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/promises-may-get-thee-friends-but-non-performance-will-turn-them-into/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [We don’t need any more promises. We need to start keeping the promises we already made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-don-t-need-any-more-promises-we-need-to-start-keeping-the-promises/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Am I keeping my promises?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/am-i-keeping-my-promises/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [If being recalled is the price for keeping one's promises, then so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-pearce/if-being-recalled-is-the-price-for-keeping-one-s-promises-then-so-be/) [Russell Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-pearce/) ## More by Hermann Broch > [“IN the year 1888 Herr von Pasenow was seventy, and there were people who felt an extraordinary and inexplicable repulsion when they saw him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/in-the-year-1888-herr-von-pasenow-was-seventy-and-there-were-people/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“Children have a more restricted and yet a more intense feeling for nature than grown-ups.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/children-have-a-more-restricted-and-yet-a-more-intense-feeling-for/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [The world has always gone through periods of madness so as to advance a bit on the road to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/the-world-has-always-gone-through-periods-of-madness-so-as-to-advance/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“Orpheus chose to be the leader of mankind. Ah, not even Orpheus had attained such a goal, not even his immortal greatness had justified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/orpheus-chose-to-be-the-leader-of-mankind-ah-not-even-orpheus-had/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [A kitsch novel describes the world not as it really is, but as it is hoped and feared to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/a-kitsch-novel-describes-the-world-not-as-it-really-is-but-as-it-is/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [Are we, then, insane because we have not gone mad?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/are-we-then-insane-because-we-have-not-gone-mad/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“… for overstrong was the command to hold fast to each smallest particle of time, to the smallest particle of every circumstance, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/for-overstrong-was-the-command-to-hold-fast-to-each-smallest-particle/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“It is as if Protestantism by clinging to the Scripture wished to preserve the last faint echoes of God’s Word in a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/it-is-as-if-protestantism-by-clinging-to-the-scripture-wished-to/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“WAS THERE STILL SOMETHING MURMURING? WAS IT still the kind murmuring of Plotius, protecting and kind and strong? oh, Plotius, oh, that it might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/was-there-still-something-murmuring-was-it-still-the-kind-murmuring/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“it is always he, unfortunate wretch, who assumes the rôle of executioner in the process of value-disintegration, and on the day when the trumpets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/it-is-always-he-unfortunate-wretch-who-assumes-the-r-le-of/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“Driven by that extraordinary oppression which falls on every human being when, childhood over, he begins to divine that he is fated to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/driven-by-that-extraordinary-oppression-which-falls-on-every-human/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [The techniques of kitsch, which are based on imitation, are rational and operate according to formulas; the remain rational even when their result has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/the-techniques-of-kitsch-which-are-based-on-imitation-are-rational/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“A man who sacrifices himself must be a decent chap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/a-man-who-sacrifices-himself-must-be-a-decent-chap/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [Kitsch tends to wallow in beauty - its shortcoming is not aesthetic, but ethical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/kitsch-tends-to-wallow-in-beauty-its-shortcoming-is-not-aesthetic-but/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [Romanticism is the mother of kitsch and that there are moments when the child becomes so like its mother that one cannot differentiate between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/romanticism-is-the-mother-of-kitsch-and-that-there-are-moments-when/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) [Explore all 36 Hermann Broch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) [Simone Abou Samra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-abou-samra/) > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What's important is promising something to the people, not actually keeping those promises. 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