That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
The ornament of beauty is suspect,
A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air.
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being wooed of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime.
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Where it concerns himself,
Who's angry at a slander, makes it true.
Where it concerns himself,
Who's angry at a slander, makes it true.
I hate the man who builds his name on the ruins of another's fame.
I hate the man who builds his name on the ruins of another's fame.
I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, read more
I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
Have not devised this slander.
For enemies carry about slander not in the form in which it took
its rise. . . . The read more
For enemies carry about slander not in the form in which it took
its rise. . . . The scandal of men is everlasting; even then does
it survive when you would suppose it to be dead.
A slander is like a hornet; if you can't kill it dead the first time, better not strike at it.
A slander is like a hornet; if you can't kill it dead the first time, better not strike at it.
Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate read more
Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate thee.
To murder character is as truly a crime as to murder the body: the tongue of the slanderer is brother read more
To murder character is as truly a crime as to murder the body: the tongue of the slanderer is brother to the dagger of the assassin.
If I can do it
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not read more
If I can do it
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not long continue love to him.
. . . For slander lives upon succession,
For ever housed where it gets possession.
. . . For slander lives upon succession,
For ever housed where it gets possession.
