He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that
repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that
repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

Some report elsewhere whatever is told them; the measure of
fiction always increases, and each fresh narrator adds something read more

Some report elsewhere whatever is told them; the measure of
fiction always increases, and each fresh narrator adds something
to what he has heard.
[Lat., Hi narrata ferunt alio; mensuraque ficti
Crescit et auditus aliquid novus adjicit auctor.]

Straightway throughout the Libyan cities flies rumor;--the report
of evil things than which nothing is swifter; it flourishes by read more

Straightway throughout the Libyan cities flies rumor;--the report
of evil things than which nothing is swifter; it flourishes by
its very activity and gains new strength by its movements; small
at first through fear, it soon raises itself aloft and sweeps
onward along the earth. Yet its head reaches the clouds. . . . A
huge and horrid monster covered with many feathers: and for
every plume a sharp eye, for every pinion a biting tongue.
Everywhere its voices sound, to everything its ears are open.
[Lat., Extemplo Libyae magnas it Fama per urbes:
Fama malum quo non velocius ullum;
Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo;
Parva metu primo; mox sese attollit in auras,
Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubilia condit.
. . . .
Monstrum, horrendum ingens; cui quot sunt corpore plumae
Tot vigiles oculi subter, mirabile dictu,
Tot linquae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit aures.]

Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world.

Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world.

The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.

The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.

Gossip is always a personal confession either of malice or imbecility.

Gossip is always a personal confession either of malice or imbecility.

Rumor, than which no evil flies more swiftly. She flourishes as she flies, gains strength by mere motion. Small at read more

Rumor, than which no evil flies more swiftly. She flourishes as she flies, gains strength by mere motion. Small at first and in fear, she soon rises to heaven, Walks upon land and hides her head in the clouds.

It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one, behind one's back, that are absolutely read more

It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one, behind one's back, that are absolutely and entirely true.

There is nothing which cannot be perverted by being told badly.

There is nothing which cannot be perverted by being told badly.