A word once spoken cannot be retracted even by a team of four horses.

This is from The Analects of Confucius, meaning the same as the English idiom that "A word spoken is past recalling." What is said cannot be retracted, and this is particularly true with a man of virtue who values his promise and never easily breaks it. The Chinese people often use this old adage to make a promise with sincerity.

When answering a joint interview by the press of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or the BRICS countries, in March 2013, Xi Jinping said: China has more than once stated to the international community that it is committed to the path of peaceful development and never seeks hegemony or engages in expansion. A word once spoken cannot be retracted even by a team of four horses. History shows that China has turned its words into actions, and China hopes that other countries will all follow peaceful development and contribute to world peace and development.

君子一言，駟馬難追

“君子一言，駟馬難追”，出自《論語》，意為一句話說出了口，就是套上四匹馬的快車也難追上。形容話已說出口，就沒法再收回。也指代君子重諾，不會輕易違背自己的諾言，而中國人歷來講究以真誠之心，行信義之事。

2013年3月，習近平在接受金磚國家媒體聯合采訪時指出，中國已經多次向國際社會莊嚴承諾，將堅定不移走和平發展道路，永遠不稱霸，永遠不搞擴張。君子一言，駟馬難追，實踐已經證明中國是說到做到的。中國也希望世界各國都走和平發展道路，共同致力于促進世界和平與發展。