69. Mean What You Say p.476

Some people say that promises are made to be broken. That certainly seems to be true in this cutthroat society that we live in. But if you break your promise, you will ruin your reputation and no one will trust you anymore. So whenever we say, "I give you my word," we should mean it. There is nothing worse than to be let down by others because they have not kept their promises.

In fact, it isn't so difficult to keep promises. Just remember never to promise anything we are not sure we can live up to. In short, therefore, to be trustworthy, we should always say what we mean and mean what we say.

（You should） mean what you say 说话算话

make/keep/break promises

in cutthroat society 竞争激烈的社会 competitive 竞争的 to compete with others

ruin/destroy one's reputation

give you my word = Don't go back on your word word不用复数 words吵架 promises 可用复数

let down = disappointed 失望

as a matter of fact —— in fact

live up to 做到 live up to one's expectations（永远用pl）达到某人的期望