I cannot tell how the truth may be;
I say the tale as 'twas said to me.

I cannot tell how the truth may be;
I say the tale as 'twas said to me.

I will be gone,
That pitiful rumor may report my flight
To consolate thine ear.

I will be gone,
That pitiful rumor may report my flight
To consolate thine ear.

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.

Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.

Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.

Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the feared.

Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the feared.

Some report elsewhere whatever is told them; the measure of
fiction always increases, and each fresh narrator adds something read more

Some report elsewhere whatever is told them; the measure of
fiction always increases, and each fresh narrator adds something
to what he has heard.
[Lat., Hi narrata ferunt alio; mensuraque ficti
Crescit et auditus aliquid novus adjicit auctor.]

The rolling fictions grow in strength and size,
Each author adding to the former lies.

The rolling fictions grow in strength and size,
Each author adding to the former lies.

Trying to squash a rumor is like trying to unring a bell.

Trying to squash a rumor is like trying to unring a bell.

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to
house; and not only idle, but tattlers read more

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to
house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies,
speaking things which they ought not.