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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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.
And truly, I'll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How read more
And truly, I'll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
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.
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.
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.
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.]
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.
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.
A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue.
A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue.
