Honourable dealing is at an end: trusts are denied: few keep their word... Yet this bad behaviour of others should rather be a warning to us than an example... But a man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
Baltasar Gracián, 1647 (tr. Joseph Jacobs, 1892)
When trustworthiness becomes rare, it becomes valuable, and the decay of honest dealing all around you is an argument to be more reliable, not less. The temptation runs the other way: if everyone cuts corners and breaks their word, why should you hold to yours and be the fool who keeps faith in a faithless market. The answer is that the bad behaviour of others is a warning about them, not a permission for you, and a person of honour does not become less than himself just because he sees what others are. There is also a hard practical edge: as reliability grows scarce, the reliable person stands out and is sought after precisely because so few can be counted on. Let your word appreciate as the currency around it debases.
Practice
- Let your word appreciate as honest dealing grows scarce; reliability stands out and is sought after precisely because so few keep faith (maxim 175 keeps the foundation real).
- Treat others' bad faith as a warning about them, not a licence for you; you do not become less than yourself because you see what others are.
- Hold to your word when it costs you; the reliability proven under strain is the kind that becomes your reputation.
Use this when
- Use this when you are tempted to match others' corner-cutting; their example is a warning, and your integrity is the scarce, valuable thing.
- Use it to build a long reputation; in a low-trust environment, the trustworthy person is the one everyone eventually comes to.
Ignore this when
- Don't mistake trustworthiness for naivety; you can keep your own word while still guarding against those who break theirs (maxim 243's serpent stays).
- Don't extend blind trust to the untrustworthy; being reliable yourself does not mean assuming reliability in others.
A picture of it
Working in an industry where broken promises and shaded dealings have become normal, a supplier faces the standing temptation to match the low standard, since everyone else seems to profit by it. He holds to his word instead, delivering what he said on the terms he said, even when it costs him a deal that a shaded one would have won. Over years the reliability that looked like a handicap becomes his entire advantage: in a market where few can be trusted, he is the one clients return to. The bad faith around him had been a warning, not an example, and keeping faith turned out to be the shrewdest position of all.
When trust grows scarce, the trustworthy grow valuable. Let others' bad faith warn you, never license you, and keep your word appreciating.