This quote by George Santayana recommends that oaths are residues of a previous era of spiritual commitment. He indicates that oaths are no longer necessary in modern-day society, as they were as soon as used to show an individual's dedication to their faith. Oaths were a way of showing that a person was dedicated to their religion and would not break their pledges. In today's society, oaths are no longer essential as individuals are most likely to rely on their own moral compass and sense of integrity. Santayana's quote suggests that oaths are a relic of a bygone period, and that contemporary society has actually moved on from the need for them. He recommends that oaths are no longer an indication of piety, however rather a pointer of a time when religious commitment was more important.
"Priests, she insisted, could not sin. It was a thing impossible. Everything that they did, and wished, was of course right. She hoped I would see the reasonableness and duty of the oaths I was to take, and be faithful to them"
"I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break"
"Language cannot describe the scene that followed; the shouts, oaths, frantic gestures, taunts, replies, and little fights; and therefore I shall not attempt it"
