“You should not speak ill of an absent friend.”
Ne male loquare absenti amico.
Trinummus, Act IV, sc. 2, line 81.
Trinummus (The Three Coins)
“Let no one be willing to speak ill of the absent.”
II, xix, 32.
Elegies
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Propertius16
Latin elegiac poet -47–-16 BCRelated quotes
Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (1854–1939) American journalist and anarchist
Libertys Declaration of Purpose (1881)
Context: LIBERTY enters the field of journalism to speak for herself because she finds no one willing to speak for her. She hears no voice that always champions her; she knows no pen that always writes in her defence; she sees no hand that is always lifted to avenge her wrongs or vindicate her rights. Many claim to speak in her name, but few really understand her. Still fewer have the courage and the opportunity to consistently fight for her. Her battle, then, is her own, to wage and win. She — accepts it fearlessly and with a determined spirit.
Her foe, Authority, takes many shapes, but, broadly speaking, her enemies divide themselves into three classes: first, those who abhor her both as a means and as an end of progress, opposing her openly, avowedly, sincerely, consistently, universally; second, those who profess to believe in her as a means of progress, but who accept her only so far as they think she will subserve their own selfish interests, denying her and her blessings to the rest of the world; third, those who distrust her as a means of progress, believing in her only as an end to be obtained by first trampling upon, violating, and outraging her. These three phases of opposition to Liberty are met in almost every sphere of thought and human activity.
“Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls;
For, thus friends absent speak.”
John Donne (1572–1631) English poet
Verse Letter to Sir Henry Woton, written before April 1598, line 1
Variant: More than kisses, letters mingle souls.
“Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody. ”
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …
“To speak well of a base man is much the same as speaking ill of a good man.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
“Speak no ill of a friend, nor even of an enemy.”
Pittacus of Mytilene Greek sage
As quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, i. 78.
“If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water's edge.”
Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author
Variant: If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it...
“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves”
Will Durant (1885–1981) American historian, philosopher and writer
Durant, Will. Commencement Speech. We Have a Right To Be Happy Today https://web.archive.org/web/20130106111821/http://www.willdurant.com/youth.htm. Webb School of Claremont, CA. 7 Jun 1958. <br class="br">Context: To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.