No man takes or keeps a vow,
But just as he sees others do;
Nor are they ’blig’d to be so brittle
As not to yield and bow a little:
For as best temper’d blades are found,
Before they break, to bend quite round;
So truest oaths are still more tough,
And tho’ they bow, are breaking proof.

— Samuel Butler Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)

More quotes by Samuel Butler

Part II (1664)

Part II (1664)

Part III (1678)

Part III (1678)

Part II (1664)

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