"Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it"

Norman Douglas offers a subtle, almost mischievous commentary on the nature of promises and the expectations they foster. A solemn oath is usually seen as the ultimate guarantee of sincerity, a verbal contract made sacred by its formality and gravity. Yet Douglas warns against taking such oaths, suggesting a deeper skepticism about the authenticity of declarations made under formal circumstances.

Human interactions are riddled with shades of intent and the fragility of resolution. By avoiding a solemn oath, one preserves a layer of ambiguity, a space where one’s intentions and actions retain flexibility. People naturally trust solemnity; when someone swears an oath, listeners are primed to accept the commitment as ironclad. Douglas’s wry advice is a reminder that words, no matter how grave, can’t always determine future conduct or eliminate human error and change.

Taking an oath invites expectations. Once others believe you are truly committed, your freedom narrows. Should circumstances shift, or if the oath was made in haste, you are now measured against your vow. The gravity of an oath can become a trap, isolating a speaker from the forgiving ambiguity of ordinary conversation. Douglas’s caution seems to reflect a pragmatic understanding: that humans are fallible, and the world is unpredictable. Grand declarations may satisfy a social ritual, but they risk binding a person to impractical, even impossible standards.

There is also a playful undertone in Douglas’s advice, as if mocking those who put too much stock in spoken guarantees. Societal rituals, the swearing of oaths, the public avowals of loyalty, often create a veneer of certainty that life seldom supports. To shun solemn oaths, then, is to reject the pretense that any commitment is immune to time, change, or the complexity of human motives. It is an invitation to be honest, not merely with others, but with oneself, about the unpredictability of intentions and the inevitable flux of life.