Ashley

“Superior people talk about ideas. Mediocre people talk about things. Little people talk about other people.”
― John Whitfield, People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“Passing on some useful or entertaining tidbit about another person is a sign of commitment. If you jeopardize your relationship with the subject of the gossip about him or her, you show that you value whom you're talking with more than whom you're talking about. Yet even more simply than that, we show people we value them by agreeing with them. The innocent urge to make friends and avoid giving offense has a profound influence on how we use gossip and the reputations that result from it.”
― John Whitfield, People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation

“Your character belongs to you; your reputation belongs to other people, who have their own interests at heart, and they use it to control you, not to depict you.”
― John Whitfield, People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation