Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.

Burke’s remark targets the moral economy of political and social rhetoric: promises are cheap when the speaker has no intention of being bound by them. Hypocrisy, in this view, is not merely inconsistency but a calculated strategy—lavish declarations of virtue or reform used to win trust, applause, or power while avoiding the costs of real action. The line also implies a practical test for sincerity: judge professions of principle by the willingness to incur sacrifice, constraint, or accountability. In Burkean terms, it cautions against being seduced by grand, abstract pledges unmoored from concrete means and responsible follow-through.