That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
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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.
So thou be good, slander doth but approve
Thy worth the greater, being wooed of time;
For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love,
And thou present'st a pure unstained prime.

Soft-buzzing Slander; silly moths that eat
An honest name.

Soft-buzzing Slander; silly moths that eat
An honest name.

I hate the man who builds his name on the ruins of another's fame.

I hate the man who builds his name on the ruins of another's fame.

I am disgraced, impeached, and baffled here;
Pierced to the soul with slander's venomed spear,
The which read more

I am disgraced, impeached, and baffled here;
Pierced to the soul with slander's venomed spear,
The which no balm can cure but his heart-blood
Which breathed this poison.

Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies.

Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies.

'Twas slander filled her mouth with lying words;
Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin.

'Twas slander filled her mouth with lying words;
Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin.

Slanders are like flies, that pass all over a man's good parts to light on his sores.

Slanders are like flies, that pass all over a man's good parts to light on his sores.

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

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

Never throw mud. You may miss your mark, but you will have dirty hands.

Never throw mud. You may miss your mark, but you will have dirty hands.