Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it; it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker. George EliotDaniel Deronda. Bk. II. Ch. XIII.
Fama, malum quo non aliud velocius ullum, Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo. Report, that which no evil thing of any kind is more swift, increases with travel and gains strength by its progress. VergilÆneid. IV. 174.