Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken.

This aphorism is commonly attributed to Jonathan Swift as a satirical observation about the ease with which people—especially in politics and public life—make commitments and then discard them. It fits Swift’s broader habit of using homely, concrete images to puncture moral pretension and expose hypocrisy. However, the saying also circulates widely as a proverb and is frequently repeated without a reliable citation to a specific Swift text, letter, sermon, or pamphlet. In quotation histories it often appears as an “attributed” Swift line rather than one securely anchored to a dated, identifiable publication or manuscript.

The comparison hinges on the fragility of a pie crust: it is easily cracked, crumbled, or broken with minimal pressure. By pairing “promises” with something physically delicate, the line suggests that many pledges are made with little structural integrity—more performative than binding. The wit lies in the deflation of solemn language (“promises”) by a kitchen-table image (“pie-crust”), implying that the speaker has learned to treat assurances skeptically. Read in a Swiftian key, it is less a cynical endorsement of breaking promises than a satirical indictment of those who treat their word as disposable.

Promises, like pie-crust, are made to be broken.
Promises are like pie-crusts—made to be broken.