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.
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Where it concerns himself,
Who's angry at a slander, makes it true.
Where it concerns himself,
Who's angry at a slander, makes it true.
Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate read more
Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate thee.
Your tittle-tattlers, and those who listen to slander, by my good
will should all be hanged--the former by their read more
Your tittle-tattlers, and those who listen to slander, by my good
will should all be hanged--the former by their tongues, the
latter by the ears.
[Lat., Homines qui gestant, quique auscultant crimina,
Si meo arbitratu liceat, omnes pendeant,
Gestores linguis, auditores auribus.]
There are . . . robberies that leave man or woman forever
beggared of peace and joy, yet kept read more
There are . . . robberies that leave man or woman forever
beggared of peace and joy, yet kept secret by the sufferer.
God knows I loved my niece,
And she is dead, slandered to death by villains,
That dare read more
God knows I loved my niece,
And she is dead, slandered to death by villains,
That dare as well answer a man indeed
As I dare take a serpent by the tongue.
Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops!
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.
'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.
No, 'tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of read more
No, 'tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie
All corners of the world. Kings, queens. and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters.
The worthiest people are the most injured by slander, as is the best fruit which the birds have been pecking read more
The worthiest people are the most injured by slander, as is the best fruit which the birds have been pecking at.
