Credibility loss, not shared reliance, disciplines promise breaking

Evidence

A strong external force generally backs promises: the loss of credibility that follows from breaking them. Without credibility, one loses the possibility of making promises. Why should anyone want the power to make promises? All I really want in my own interest is the power to receive them. And there’s the rub, because promises are generally part of a reciprocal exchange. The real penalty here is not that others will no longer rely on me but that they will not let me rely on them. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 132

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s core thesis: observable constraints (credibility) underwrite trust; when blind, the wife becomes the sole repository of credibility others must cultivate.”