The meaning of the Russian proverb "an agreement is more valuable than money"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

We often use in everyday life proverbs and sayings that came from Ancient Russia, without thinking about their origin and meaning. One of these expressions is "a deal is worth more than money."

The expression "Agreement is worth more than money" has a very, very solid meaning. In the understanding of the ancient Slavs, this meant the completion of the transaction in any case.

Word and deed

As early as 200 years ago, when concluding a deal, written receipts were very rare. The agreement was often sealed with a handshake, the only guarantee being the honest name of the trader. There was no question of violating the terms of the contract. If it was the delivery of any goods, then they had to be delivered on time, but if it was a debt, then it had to be returned on time.

The meaning of the rule "a deal is worth more than money" - it is better to fulfill the promise, even to the detriment of one's own benefit. After all, the violation of the word meant the collapse of the reputation. Most often, its recovery took a considerable time, if not the whole life. Violating the rule "an agreement is more valuable than money"there was no more faith and, accordingly, they did not want to deal with him. As a result, dishonesty led to huge losses. One could even say that it was the collapse of the entire enterprise. And it extended to the whole family.

Merchant word

The expression "a deal is worth more than money" has an analogue, but less well-known. This "merchant's word" is the merchant's promise of the exact fulfillment of all the conditions of the oral contract.

Especially the merchant's word was widespread outside of Central Russia. The merchant could not understand the securities and not be able to read them, some entrepreneurs and merchants were not literate at all. But they knew the price of a promise.

There have been cases when well-known industrialists committed suicide due to the inability to repay a loan or fulfill the terms of a deal. This showed an incredible example of honor: indeed, the agreement was more precious than money and even life. Of these people were large breeders A. K. Alchevsky, S. I. Chetverikov. Remarkably, after 25 years, the latter's son restored the reputation of the family, paying off all debts. At that time, he himself became a successful entrepreneur.

"Deal is worth more than money" these days

Agreement is a colloquial version of the word "agreement". Nowadays, a person who knows how to competently conduct negotiations is very much appreciated. But at the same time, a deal concluded orally has no force. All conditions must be recorded on paper. Entire corporations work to ensure that the conditions in the contract arespelled correctly.

Registered everything - from the terms of the transaction to possible litigation. Risks, conditions, pen alties and obligations are prescribed. But even a well-drafted contract does not guarantee that the terms of the deal will be fulfilled.

It can be terminated by the decision of one of the parties, and this will be justified by law or a line from the contract. And the word given earlier will have no effect.

This negative trend in Russia appeared with the change of the political regime at the beginning of the last century, when many families of famous industrialists or merchants were forced to leave the country. Traditions have been broken, and a word of honor is no longer valued so dearly.