Slander Quotes - Page 3

• If slander be a snake, it is a winged one - it flies as well as creeps.

  Douglas William Jerrold

  Snakes, Creeps, Wells

  Douglas William Jerrold, Blanchard Jerrold (1859). “Specimens of Douglas Jerrold's wit: together with selections, chiefly from his contributions to journals, intended to illustrate his opinions”, p.55

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• It is always to be understood that a lady takes all you detract from the rest of her sex to be a gift to her.

  Joseph Addison

  Sex, Understood

  Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison (1774). “The Tatler; Or, Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq”, p.78

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• Strike at a great man, and you will not miss.

  Sophocles

  Men, Missing, Strikes

  Sophocles (2013). “Sophocles II: Ajax, The Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes, The Trackers”, p.24, University of Chicago Press

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• In all cases of slander currency, whenever the forger of the lie is not to be found, the injured parties should have a right to come on any of the indorsers.

  Richard Brinsley Sheridan

  Lying, Party, Should Have

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• How much an ill word may empoison liking!

  William Shakespeare

  Gossip, May, Ill

  William Shakespeare (2012). “Much Ado About Nothing Thrift Study Edition”, p.33, Courier Corporation

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• Backbite: To ''speak of a man as you find him'' when he can't find you.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Men, Speak

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.22, University of Georgia Press

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• Remember, when incited to slander, that it is only he among you who is without sin that may cast the first stone.

  Hosea Ballou

  May, Stones, Firsts

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• Keep from prying into other people's affairs, for such prying gives occasion for slander, judgment, and other grievous sins. Why do you need to be concerned about others? Know and examine your own self.

  Tikhon of Zadonsk

  Truth, Self, People

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• Quick-circulating slanders mirth afford; and reputation bleeds in every word.

  Charles Churchill

  Mirth, Reputation

  Charles Churchill, George Gilfillan (1855). “The poetical works of Charles Churchill: with memoir, critical dissertation, and explanatory notes / by the Rev. George Gilfillan”, p.38

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• Tattletales, and those who listen to their slander, by my good will, should all be hanged. The former by their tongues, the latter by their ears.
  [Lat., Homines qui gestant, quique auscultant crimina, si meo arbitratu liceat, omnes pendeant gestores linguis, auditores auribus.]

  Plautus

  Gossip, Ears, Tongue

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• Pardons and pleasantnesse are great revenges of slanders.

  George Herbert

  Revenge, Pardon

  George Herbert (1874). “The Complete Works of George Herbert: Prose”, p.333

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• Slugs crawl and crawl over our cabbages, like the world's slander over a good name. You may kill them, it is true; but there is the slime.

  Douglas William Jerrold

  Names, Slime, Slugs

  Douglas William Jerrold, Blanchard Jerrold (1859). “Specimens of Douglas Jerrold's wit: together with selections, chiefly from his contributions to journals, intended to illustrate his opinions”, p.146

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• Whence proceeds this weight we lay
  On what detracting people say?
  Their utmost malice cannot make
  Your head, or tooth, or finger ache;
  Nor spoil your shapes, distort your face,
  Or put one feature out of place.

  Jonathan Swift

  People, Weight, Shapes

  Jonathan Swift (1841). “The Works. Containing Interesting and Valuable Papers, Not Hitherto Published. With Memoir of the Author, by Thomas Roscoe. -London, Washbourne 1841”, p.629

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• 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.

  William Shakespeare

  Art, Air, Heaven

  William Shakespeare (2014). “Arden Shakespeare Complete Works”, p.29, Bloomsbury Publishing

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

  Henry Fielding

  People, Praise, Recommendations

  Henry Fielding, Arthur Murphy, James P. Browne (1871). “Preface. Essay on the life and genius of Henry Fielding, esq. Love in several masques, a comedy. The temple beau, a comedy. The author's farce; with a puppet shew, called The pleasures of the town. The coffee house politician; or, The justice caught in his own trap, a comedy. The tragedy of tragedies; or, The life and death of Tom Thumb the Great”, p.186

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• Calumny ever pursues the great, even as the winds hurl themselves on high places.

  Ovid

  Wind, Calumny, Pursue

  Ovid (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ovid (Illustrated)”, p.358, Delphi Classics

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• 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.

  Plautus

  Men, Enemy, Doe

  Titus Maccius Plautus (1852). “The Comedies of Plautus”, p.277

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• On Rumor's tongue continual slanders ride.

  William Shakespeare

  Rumor, Tongue

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• To be continually subject to the breath of slander, will tarnish the purest virtue, as a constant exposure to the atmosphere will obscure the brightness of the finest gold; but in either case, the real value of both continues the same, although the currency may be somewhat impeded.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Real, Atmosphere, Gold

  Charles Caleb COLTON (1849). “L.P.”, p.181

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• The slanders poured down like Niagara. If you take into consideration the setting - the war and the revolution - and the character of the accused - revolutionary leaders of millions who were conducting their party to the sovereign power - you can say without exaggeration that July 1917 was the month of the most gigantic slander in world history.

  Leon Trotsky

  War, Party, Character

  Leon Trotsky (2017). “History of the Russian Revolution”, p.596, Penguin UK

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• I am about courting a girl I have had but little acquaintance with. How shall I come to a knowledge of her faults, and whether she has the virtues I imagine she has? Answer. Commend her among her female acquaintances.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Girl, Female, Answers

  Pennsylvania Gazette, 12 Mar. 1732

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• There are robberies that leave man or woman forever beggared of peace and joy, yet kept secret by the sufferer.

  George Eliot

  Men, Joy, Forever

  George Eliot (1866). “Felix Holt: The Radical”, p.10

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• You have got to be careful quoting Ronald Reagan, because when you quote him accurately it is called mudslinging.

  Walter F. Mondale

  Quoting, Be Careful, Careful

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• Rumour is a pipe Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted heads, The still-discordant wavering multitude, Can play upon it.

  William Shakespeare

  Play, Rumor, Monsters

  'Henry IV, Part 2' (1597) induction, l. 15

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• Those who murder fame
  Kill more than life destroyers.

  Richard Savage

  Murder, Fame, Destroyers

  Richard Savage (1775). “The Works of Richard Savage, Esq., Son of the Earl Rivers: With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author”, p.141

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