Gossip isn’t scandal and it’s not merely malicious. It’s chatter about the human race by lovers of the same.
—Phyllis McGinley, 1957Quotes
The older one grows, the more one likes indecency.
—Virginia Woolf, 1921A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world as a public indecency.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1615The purest joy is to live without disguise, unconstrained by the ties of a grave reputation.
—Al-Hariri, c. 1108Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people.
—Barbara Walters, 1975The more sifted, the finer the flour; the more often repeated, the rougher the gossip.
—Korean proverbGossip 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.
—George Eliot, 1876Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification.
—John Donne, c. 1629Keep no company with those whose position is high but whose morals are low.
—Ge Hong, c. 320The slander of some people is as great a recommendation as the praise of others.
—Henry Fielding, 1730Reputation, like beavers and cloaks, shall last some people twice the time of others.
—Douglas Jerrold, 1840Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.
—Charles I, 1636Journalists belong in the gutter, because that is where the ruling classes throw their guilty secrets.
—Gerald Priestland, 1988