quotations about rumors
The first rule to observe about rumors is that they are often exactly opposite in tendency to the coming fact.
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY
"As To Rumors", Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of Grub Street
Every rumor is believed against the unfortunate.
PUBLILIUS SYRUS
Maxims
Rumor often tells false tales.
LINDLEY MURRAY
The English Teacher
Rumors are hearsay; they are told, believed, and passed on not because of the weight of evidence but because of the expectations by tellers that they are true in the first place.
ERICH GOODE & NACHMAN BEN-YEHUDA
Moral Panics
Most rumors aren't true; but that's what makes them interesting.
JERRY DAMPIER
The Downfall and Rise of Steven Leroy Zienner
Trying to dispel a rumor is like trying to unspread butter.
LLOYD CARY
attributed, Quote Unquote
No need to get a rumor heading through town that would end up like one of the salmon on the conveyor belt down at the cannery, the head and tail of the story cut off and the middle butchered up until it became something unrecognizable.
SERÉ PRINCE HALVERSON
All the Winters After
Rumors are nuisances, which it is wise not to molest, as they will die of their own stench.
CHATFIELD
attributed, Day's Collacon
Rumors grow from nothing
Like a whisper in the crowd
Stars they will collide
Lovers will abide
ERASURE
"Be Careful What You Wish For"
The flying rumours gather'd as they roll'd,
Scarce any tale was sooner heard than told;
And all who told it added something new,
And all who heard it made enlargements too.
ALEXANDER POPE
Temple of Fame
Rumors are transmitted because they are surprising, funny, or shocking, and the teller wishes to entertain the listeners. Similar to the telling of a joke, the passing of a rumor provides entertainment and prestige. That is why urban legends last so long: they are savoured at the end of a meal, or in a bar while sipping on an after-dinner drink; they provide a certain momentary pleasure in consuming.
GAIL DE VOS
Tales, Rumors, and Gossip
Rumor is a certain kind of report widely spread, and untraceable to, unfixable on, any distinct author, originating in malignity, and constantly receiving accessions of strength from the credulity of the world of mankind.
QUINTILIAN
attributed, Day's Collacon
We may view [rumors] as manipulative machinations of power, taking advantage of products of popular culture, or instead we may consider them as subversive operations undermining power structures, drawing their energy from the vitality of popular or rather folk culture.
GARY ALAN FINE
Rumor Mills
Rumors are like wildfire; you are burned up before you know it.
KENNETH D. MCLLROY
The Pragmatic Leader
You know what rumors are like--like a jar full of moths. Once they escape, they're all over the place.
RHYS BOWEN
Oh Danny Boy
False rumors are like mistresses: more exciting initially than wives, but more deadly.
GARY NORTH
The Sinai Strategy
He who unveils rumors enjoys greater prestige than a simple public entertainer.
JEAN-NOEL KAPFERER
Rumors: Uses, Interpretations, and Images
The subject of a rumor is always the last to hear it.
STEFAN ZWEIG
The Post Office Girl
Rumors are like odors: the more pungent they are, the faster they spread.
YUN CH'OE
There a Petal Silently Falls
A rumor always contains information of considerable interest. The teller is therefore the center of attention; and the listener, by his eagerness, magnifies the teller's feelings of importance.
H. G. BARNETT
Innovation