quotations about scandal
Scandalous reports, says Boerhaave, are sparks, which if you do not blow them, will go out of themselves. They have, perhaps, been better compared to volcanic explosions, of which the lighter portions are dispersed by the winds, while the heavier fall back into the mouth whence they were ejected.
HORACE SMITH
The Tin Trumpet: Or, Heads and Tails for the Wise and Waggish
Assail'd by scandal and the tongue of strife,
His only answer was a blameless life;
And he that forged, and he that threw the dart,
Had each a brother's interest in his heart.
WILLIAM COWPER
Hope
Scandals represent bad news and good news. The bad news is that something bad happened; the good news is that the perpetrator got caught. Scandals should be seen as an opportunity for the church to show it can act responsibly in the face of a scandal, because scandals are an inevitable part of life.
THOMAS REESE
"Scandals in the Catholic Church: Bad news and good news", National Catholic Reporter, September 20, 2017
Every scandal has it's price
Brighter and brighter and brighter you burn
PET SHOP BOYS
"Fluorescent"
Were all the vexations of life put together, we should find that a great part of them proceed from those calumnies and reproaches we spread abroad concerning one another.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, September 15, 1714
The mask remains in place
And nothing ever changes
The headlines scream the news
Another scandal rages
ALI CAMPBELL
"Nothing Ever Changes"
Scandals are the fertilizer of Western democracy.
DARIO FO
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
In every scandal there is the warp and the woof; it is seldom that some ground cannot be had to work upon. The woof may be a fact wholly perverted, but upon it the liar may weave his warp, his figure of detraction and scandal; and it comes out all in one piece, and no man can say that there is not some truth in it, though if the truth were picked out, the lie would stand by itself, a clean and absolute lie.
GEORGE BARRELL CHEEVER
"The Methods of Tale-Bearing and Corporate Lying", Christian Treasury, Volume 14
Most of the scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life involve shortcuts.
DANIEL H. PINK
Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
When scandal has new-minted an old lie,
Or tax'd invention for a fresh supply,
'Tis call'd a satire, and the world appears
Gathering around it with erected ears.
WILLIAM COWPER
Charity
How mortified one ought to feel at being told a tale of scandal; because it proves that the relator believes one able of enjoying it, and certainly it is an enjoyment of a very diabolical nature.
ANONYMOUS
The European Magazine and London Review, May 1822
I know of a scandal monger,
A lowdown evil skirt,
They call her Dirt Dishin' Daisy,
Boy, how she can dish that dirt!
THE MILLS BROTHERS
"Dirt Dishin' Daisy"
There'll be a scandal, the tongues of the whole district will buzz with gossip, but it's better to go through a scandal, isn't it, than to destroy yourself for your whole life.
ANTON CHEKHOV
Ivanov
It is the part of a wise Magistrate to vindicate a man of Power or State-employment from the malicious scandals of the giddy-headed multitude, and to punish it with great severity: Scandal breeds hatred; hatred begets division; division makes faction, and faction brings ruin.
FRANCIS QUARLES
The Complete Works in Prose and Verse, of Francis Quarles, Volume 1
A good, finished scandal, fully armed and equipped, such as circulates in the world, is rarely the production of a single individual, or even of a single coterie. It sees the light in one; is rocked and nurtured in another; is petted, developed, and attains its growth in a third; and receives its finishing touches only after passing through a multitude of hands. It is a child that can count a host of fathers--all ready to disown it.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
Many a wretch has rid on a hurdle who has done less mischief than these utterers of forged tales, coiners of scandal, and clippers of reputation.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
The School for Scandal
Don't have the time for someone else's scandal
My own life is hard enough to handle
H2O
"Liberate"
A tale of scandal is as fatal to the credit of a prudent lady of her stamp, as a fever is generally to those of the strongest constitutions. But there is a sort of puny, sickly reputation, that is always ailing, yet will outlive the robuster character of a hundred prudes.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN
The School for Scandal
Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.
HENRY FIELDING
Love in Several Masques
The way the firestorm spread is disturbing, coming amid stories of how context-warping social media scandals are amplifying social division.
BEN DAVIS
"Why the Guggenheim's Controversial Dog Video Is Even More Disturbing Than You Think", ArtNet, September 29, 2017