gossip

Reputations are just history in rumor form.

...[She] was not nearly so intrusive. If she happened to observe the comings and goings of her friends out of the corner of her eye (which she could hardly fail to do, given the nature of her favorite sitting-place) and chanced to be able to remember when she had seen them and where they had been going, it was simply a tribute to her keen powers of observation and recall. Conscious spying was beneath her altogether.

Mon cher docteur! Do you not think I know the female mentality? The village gossip, it is based always, always on the relations of the sexes. If a man poisons his wife in order to travel to the North Pole or to enjoy the peace of a bachelor existence__t would not interest his fellow-villagers for a minute!

Gossip till the cows come home.

When people talk about you behind your back, they're not just behind you, they're beneath you.

Mary Webster was on the blower. Her advance agents saw Hank and me swimming in the middle of the river last night with no clothes on.H'rm, said Atticus. He touched his glasses. I hope you weren't doing the backstroke.

It was only too bad that to gossip and support mean ideas was easier and more enjoyable, really, than to keep quiet and know in silence that the true story can never be told, articulated in a way that will tell the whole truth. Even if it is better to be quiet, quietness will never reign. People talked, even the best of them.

We cannot help the way in which people speak of us . . .

When I write, I am gossiping. Writing to whisper the story, whether good or bad to my listener.

Scuttlebutt is one of the most overlooked acts that can decrease one's sagacity

A peaceful refuge in which to rediscover each other, we thought,, not realizing that, while golf and fishing are Scotland's most popular outdoor sports, gossip is the most popular indoor sport.

_ I wonder why she hasn't spread the tale.""The only reason she would not is if she is ill or the story would somehow reflect badly on herself," replied Lady Badgery. "Otherwise, Portia Troutbridge has never been known to keep a scandal to herself.""Oh, I do hope she is ill!" exclaimed Truthful. "I mean, only just ill enough to keep the news quiet for a little longer. Is that too dreadful of me?""Not at all," announced Lady Badgery. "It is a very reasonable desire. In the case of Portia Troutbridge I myself would wish for something much more severe. Scarlet fever, perhaps. Or the plague.

A Gossip is a dung beetle in disguise ....

You really love to gossip, don't you?_ he asked, wishing she had brought him a glass of wine.__es, I suppose I do,_ she answered, sounding surprised at the realization. __ou think that's why I love reading novels so much?

A man's biggest enemy is his mouth.

Damned no matter what you do. Why do people think knowing secrets is fun?

In a little town, there are many mouths which talk, and very few heads which think.

Everybody's always doing the same old things--- you know, doing unto others before they can do unto you.