Today I got into a (very) brief discussion about my dislike for making promises. Specifically, I don't ever like to make hasty promises, and most of the time I refuse to offer my word unless I know I will keep it. But why? Why not just say what is easiest to say, and consider later whether it is practical to keep one's word?Here is my opinion, cut and (very) dry.
Never make a hasty promise, for such promises are only made to satisfy one's ego. And such satisfaction should only come from the fulfillment of a promise.
When a promise is made, one's pride is risked, or should be. Too often, though, people make a commitment without risking anything: they deem their oath fulfilled simply by taking it. The motivation to make a promise should be pride. The man who makes a hasty promise really has no pride at all. If he did, he wouldn't be so quick to risk it.
The wise man has considered all the risks and makes promises accordingly. And so when a promise is fulfilled, his ego is properly satiated. Since the hasty promise is made without thought of one's pride, the breaking of it will not mean anything to its breaker. Thus the breaker has no pride: he is a thief, borrowing trust from others as if it was capital, to ameliorate his starving ego, and then never repaying the debt by keeping his end of the agreement.
A promise should not be made to satisfy one's own ego, then, but rather to test it -- to see if his pride really matters to him.
Posts
2 reactions:
Thank you for using the word ameliorate. My day is complete.
Also, what about the wise woman? I feel left out of your musings on the human condition. :P
Me likey big words. They make me sound perspicacious.
I know you have a pet peeve concerning the rule of defaulting to the masculine in a hypothetical. I should've remembered. These thoughts are true across all genders (that's right, I said all genders) -- or at least I think they are true.
Post a Comment