Promises Are Meant to Be Kept

Promises are Meant to be Kept

"Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it." Norman Douglas (QuoteGarden.com). This sentiment, while amusing, is too often considered truth. A promise is, indeed, something that the giver means. It is their word, their vow if you will. According to Dictionary.com, a promise is "a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc., by one" (Dictioary.com). It is not something that may or may not be done. It is not something that will or will not be done if it is convenient or easy. It simply will or will not be done.

It is because of the very nature of a promise that once given, it should never be retracted. The giver should not withdraw the promise no matter how difficult it is to carry out. The giver can have the promise returned to them by the recipient, however. If the recipient no longer wishes to accept the promise, they have the only prerogative to negate that promise.

A prime example of keeping a promise in a difficult situation would be when the recipient no longer acts as they once did. Such would be the case of Phineas Gage and others who suffer brain injury. Phineas was impaled through the brain by a tamping iron in 1848. The rod penetrated his face at his left cheek, went through his brain and exited the top of his skull. Amazingly, Mr. Gage did not die from this injury but his personality was said to have changed drastically. His doctor has been quoted as saying that his friends no longer felt he was himself (Simthsonianmag.com). This is where the example comes into play.

If Phineas had had a friend who promised to help in the case of an accident, that friend would be obligated to keep his promise even though Phineas no longer acted like himself. His brain had been damaged, but it was still his brain, still Phineas Gage inside a wounded head. There is no justification for retracting the promise of assistance simply because Phineas no longer acted like himself.

Some may say that Phineas was no longer worthy of the promise because he was mean, or ill tempered or "just not the person he once was". However, it is upon the giver of the promise to maintain the promise, not upon the recipient to be worthy. If promises were meant to be kept only to those that we liked, we would break them all the time. People disappoint us, they make us angry or sad, they do not behave in the way that we think they should. That is life. We do it and others do it. To base keeping a promise on the personality of the recipient would mean that no promise ever really needed to be kept. An excuse to break it could always be found.

References Cited:

Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/promise?s=t. Retrieved 05-29-2012

Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html?c=y&page=1.