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.
You May Also Like / View all maxioms
To murder character is as truly a crime as to murder the body: the tongue of the slanderer is brother read more
To murder character is as truly a crime as to murder the body: the tongue of the slanderer is brother to the dagger of the assassin.
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.
I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, read more
I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
Have not devised this slander.
A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue.
A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue.
Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies.
Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies.
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.
If I can do it
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not read more
If I can do it
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not long continue love to him.
I hate the man who builds his name
On ruins of another's fame.
I hate the man who builds his name
On 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.
