proverb · Words worth keeping
Vows made in storms are forgotten in calms.
Vows made in storms are forgotten in calms.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Promises made in a crisis can be forgotten once the pressure passes. Storm and calm contrast the urgency that prompts a vow with the ease that tests its durability.
What the words are saying
The saying notices a gap between words spoken under distress and conduct after relief. It can encourage reviewing a commitment when the original fear is no longer vivid. Some crisis promises were unrealistic or coerced and need revision rather than literal fulfilment. A useful reading asks what was freely promised, whether it remains sound and how to honour or honestly renegotiate it.
Everyday example
A team revisits a promise to improve a process after the immediate problem has been resolved.
When to use it
Use it to check a crisis commitment after conditions become easier.
What it does not mean
A promise made under coercion or without adequate knowledge may need reconsideration.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1708 · Vows
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English