That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect,
For slander's mark was ever yet the fair;
read more

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.

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.

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 ruins of another's fame.

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

. . . For slander lives upon succession,
For ever housed where it gets possession.

. . . For slander lives upon succession,
For ever housed where it gets possession.

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.

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.

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

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