昔吳起出，遇故人,而止之食。故人曰：“諾，期返而食。”起曰：“待公而食。”故人至暮不來，起不食待之。明日早，令人求故人，故人來，方與之食。起之不食以俟者，恐其自食其言也。其為信若此，宜其能服三軍歟？欲服三軍，非信不可也！
Formerly, Wu Qi met an old friend outside; he invited him to lunch at his home. His friend accepted the offer and said, "Fine, I will be there when I return." But by evening, his friend still hadnt shown up. Wu kept waiting for his friend and did not eat alone. The next morning, Wu sent someone to find his friend and kept fasting until his friend finally showed up. Why didn’t Wu eat alone and had to wait for his friend? Because he did not want to eat his words. As he could keep his word to some extent, how could he not make his army believe in him wholeheartedly? Therefore, if a general wants his army to believe in him, he must keep his words.
