Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.

The slander of some people is as great a recommendation as the praise of others.

In the country gossip is a pastime; in the city it is a warfare.

While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men, especially if it is about women, is called theory, or idea, or fact.

A bad reputation is easy to come by, painful to bear, and difficult to clear.

Keep no company with those whose position is high but whose morals are low.

The world is for thousands a freak show; the images flicker past and vanish.

Scandal begins where the police leave off.

A false report rides post.

A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world as a public indecency.

Ridicule often checks what is absurd, and fully as often smothers that which is noble.

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco pipes of those who diffuse it; it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty, and death of public opinion.