word of honor

Place me behind prison walls—walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground—there is a possibility that in some way or another I might be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it.-Karl G Maeser

what i think  this quote means is that you should always keep your word because it is important to keep that promise with that person because you have a bond with that person and a trust but you decide to break that promise then slowly little by little you lose that trust on that person so they will see that they can't really count on you to do something and instead they will rather ask someone else to do it for them. slowly if you do keep your promise they will grow back that trust in you and see that they can count on you to do something and even ask for a much more bigger favor.