On Promises

“He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”

“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

“The foundation of justice is good faith, that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.”

“Regulus was sent home on parole, argued in the senate against the exchange he had come to seek, and chose to return to a death by torture rather than prove false to his promise, though given to an enemy.”

“I do not know how a man without truthfulness is to get on. How can a large carriage be made to go without the cross-bar for yoking the oxen to?”

“He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.”

“It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”

In a controlled experiment, people kept promises even when the person they had promised no longer expected anything. Keeping your word turned out to be a thing wanted for itself, not a way to avoid disappointing someone.

Let two strangers talk freely before a trust game and cooperation rises sharply. The lift comes almost entirely from those who made an explicit promise.

“Treasures, though small, attained on a true principle of virtue, are sweet in the possession, and, while we walk in the light of the Lord, there is true comfort and satisfaction.”