Lapham’s Quarterly

One of the things men should most strive to do is win a good reputation and see that no one questions it.

Scandal begins where the police leave off.

Shamelessness is the shame of being without shame.

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.

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

A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run.

Don’t ever wear artistic jewelry; it wrecks a woman’s reputation.

Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people.

A false report rides post.

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

Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.

There is a demon who puts wings on certain tales and launches them like eagles out into space.

Journalists belong in the gutter, because that is where the ruling classes throw their guilty secrets.

The one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.

Reputation, like beavers and cloaks, shall last some people twice the time of others.

The older one grows, the more one likes indecency.

There is a vital force in rumor. Though crushed to earth, to all intents and purposes buried, it can rise again without apparent effort.

There are many civil questions that arise between individuals in which it is not so important the controversy be settled one way or another as that it be settled.

It is one thing to slander, another to accuse.

I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise.

Speak without regard for the consequences, and it is too late for silence when disaster strikes.

The purest joy is to live without disguise, unconstrained by the ties of a grave reputation.

Gossip isn’t scandal and it’s not merely malicious. It’s chatter about the human race by lovers of the same.

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

The more sifted, the finer the flour; the more often repeated, the rougher the gossip.

Gossip is the opiate of the oppressed.

Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.

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

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

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

Everyone knows about everybody in Hollywood—who sleeps with whom, who doesn’t sleep, who does it standing on his head or in the dentist’s chair.

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

Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification.

Everybody says it; and what everybody says must be true.

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.

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

Attacks on me will do no harm, and silent contempt is the best answer to them.