Page 93 - Forbes Magazine-October 31, 2018

THOUGHTS ON
Promises

“If you do not
have control
over your “LIARS
mouth, you “To win the MAKE
will not have people, always THE BEST
cook them some
control over
savory that PROMISES.”
your future.” pleases them.” —PIERCE BROWN
—GERMANY KENT —ARISTOPHANES
“To promise not to do a
thing is the surest way
in the world to make a
“An election body want to go and do
is coming. that very thing.”
Universal peace —MARK TWAIN
is declared, and
the foxes have a
sincere interest
“A no does not hide in prolonging
anything, but a yes the lives of the “We forget the
poultry.”
very easily becomes —GEORGE ELIOT promises we would
a deception.” like to remember, and
—SØREN KIERKEGAARD we remember the ones
we’d prefer to forget.”
“TO MAKE A VOW IS A GREATER “The remedy for —HENNING MANKELL
SIN THAN TO BREAK ONE.” unpredictability, for the
—GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG chaotic uncertainty of
the future, is contained
in the faculty to make
“A PROMISE MADE IS A DEBT UNPAID.”
—ROBERT W. SERVICE and keep promises.” CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BILLY BENNIGHT/AVALON/NEWSCOM; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; JESSICA CHOU/REDUX; UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; ULF ANDERSEN/GAMMA-RAPHO/GETTY IMAGES;
—HANNAH ARENDT
“Riotous madness,
to be entangled
with those mouth-
made vows, which
break themselves in
swearing.”
FINAL
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE FRED STEIN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG/ALAMY; PHOTO12/GETTY IMAGES; THE PRINT COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES
THOUGHT
“After all, we are
“MEN ARE MEN, VOWS ARE
our brother’s
WORDS, AND WORDS ARE WIND.”
keeper. Nations
—GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
“TREES ARE SWAYED BY “HE REMEMBERS HIS COVENANT FOREVER, THE that forget this
perish. Individuals,
WINDS, MEN BY WORDS.” PROMISE HE MADE, FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS.” too, lose out.”
—JOAN AIKEN —1 CHRONICLES 16:15 —B.C. FORBES
SOURCES: FELIX HOLT, THE RADICAL, BY GEORGE ELIOT; THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE, BY ROBERT W. SERVICE;
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, BY MARK TWAIN; A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN; ANTONY AND
CLEOPATRA, BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE; GOLDEN SON, BY PIERCE BROWN; THE LAST SLICE OF RAINBOW, BY JOAN AIKEN;
THE KNIGHTS, BY ARISTOPHANES; ITALIAN SHOES, BY HENNING MANKELL; THE HUMAN CONDITION, BY HANNAH ARENDT.

218 | FORBES OCTOBER 31, 2018