Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
"Queen: Live at Wembley" (1986), shortly before performing "Who Wants To Live Forever." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GNJ1SQpxFI
A collection of quotes on the topic of rumor, people, going, likeness.
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
"Queen: Live at Wembley" (1986), shortly before performing "Who Wants To Live Forever." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GNJ1SQpxFI
Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) Russian revolutionary, philosopher, and theorist of collectivist anarchism
Letter http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/bakunin/letters/toherzenandogareff.html to Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen and Ogareff from San Francisco (3 October 1861); published in Correspondance de Michel Bakounine (1896) edited by Michel Dragmanov
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali polymath
61 <br class="br"> Gitanjali http://www.spiritualbee.com/gitanjali-poems-of-tagore/ (1912)
Leonardo DiCaprio (1974) American actor and film producer
http://www.flixster.com/actor/leonardo-di-caprio/leonardo-dicaprio-quotes
“The subject of a rumor is always the last to hear it.”
Stefan Zweig book The Post Office Girl
The Post Office Girl (published posthumously in 1982)
J'accuse! (1898)
Context: The public was astounded; rumors flew of the most horrible acts, the most monstrous deceptions, lies that were an affront to our history. The public, naturally, was taken in. No punishment could be too harsh. The people clamored for the traitor to be publicly stripped of his rank and demanded to see him writhing with remorse on his rock of infamy. Could these things be true, these unspeakable acts, these deeds so dangerous that they must be carefully hidden behind closed doors to keep Europe from going up in flames? No! They were nothing but the demented fabrications of Major du Paty de Clam, a cover-up of the most preposterous fantasies imaginable. To be convinced of this one need only read carefully the accusation as it was presented before the court martial.
How flimsy it is! The fact that someone could have been convicted on this charge is the ultimate iniquity. I defy decent men to read it without a stir of indignation in their hearts and a cry of revulsion, at the thought of the undeserved punishment being meted out there on Devil's Island. He knew several languages: a crime! He carried no compromising papers: a crime! He would occasionally visit his country of origin: a crime! He was hard-working, and strove to be well informed: a crime! He did not become confused: a crime! He became confused: a crime! And how childish the language is, how groundless the accusation!
“Laughable rumors. I’m not stepping back or stepping down. You could say I’m stepping up.”
Hu Shuli (1953) Chinese journalist
On the rumors of her stepping down as head of Caixin Media in "AP Interview: Chinese editor Hu Shuli steps aside, not down" in Associated Press (30 January 2018) https://apnews.com/article/china-censorship-business-international-news-asia-pacific-d1f0e45181c64cd0b1a978842a81affa
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: On the Edge
“Rumors spread fast, and they grow. I know. You want to either deny them, or disarm them”
L.J. Smith (1965) American author
Source: Night World, No. 2
“Don't let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.”
Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman
Source: I Can't Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence
“Memory… is an internal rumor.”
George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism
“I don't have to listen to rumors about a man when I can judge him for myself.”
Stephen King (1947) American author
Source: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons
Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer
Source: This is Where I Leave You
“Rumor travels Faster, but it don't stay put as long as Truth.”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
"Politics Getting Ready to Jell" <!-- p. 265 -->
The Illiterate Digest (1924)
Context: Every Gag I tell must be based on truth. No matter how much I may exaggerate it, it must have a certain amount of Truth.... Now Rumor travels Faster, but it don't stay put as long as Truth.
“We wake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery, rumors of death, beauty, violence…”
Annie Dillard book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Source: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Brandon Flowers (1981) American indie rock singer
"Killers' To-Do List: Lawsuit, Long-Form Video, Beef With The Bravery" (03/28/2005) from MTV.com http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499151/20050328/killers_the.jhtml
William H. Rehnquist (1924–2005) Chief Justice of the United States
Written statement reacting to speculation that he might retire from the US Supreme Court after Sandra Day O'Connor declared that she would. (July 2005).
Books, articles, and speeches
Ma Zhanshan (1885–1950) Chinese politician
[CHINA-JAPAN: Hero Ma, TIME, 23 November 1931, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742656-2,00.html]
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (1933–2011) Nigerian politician and military leader
9 July, 2001, as quoted by Rudolph Okonkwo, My Last Interview With Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu - Rudolf Okonkwo http://saharareporters.com/column/my-last-interview-dim-chukwuemeka-ojukwu-rudolf-okonkwo, Sahara Reporters (26 November, 2011)
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor and writer
In Max Beckmann, , Bonfini Press Corporation, Naefels, Switzerland, 1983, p. 80
1940s
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and …
Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence (1973)
“Generating rumors is one thing even the most inept armed force does exceedingly well.”
Glen Cook book Soldiers Live
Source: Soldiers Live (2000), Chapter 78, “Midway Between: Bad News” (p. 615)
Jack T. Chick (1924–2016) Christian comics writer
Chick tracts, " Doom Town http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0272/0272_01.asp" (1991)
Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge
Extra-judicial writings, Speech to the Board of Regents (1952)
Mumia Abu-Jamal (1954) Prisoner, Journalist, Broadcaster, Author, Activist
"A Year In: More Same Than Change" http://prisonradio.org/more_of_same.htm
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947) actor, businessman and politician of Austrian-American heritage
Charles Fleming, "Uh-Oh" March 1992, page 62 of Spy Magazine https://books.google.ca/books?id=Xa7j5ofHW0EC&lpg=PP1&dq=spy+magazine+schwarzenegger&pg=PA62&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q=spy%20magazine%20schwarzenegger&f=true <br class="br">About
Thom Yorke (1968) English musician, philanthropist and singer-songwriter
source http://radiohead1.tripod.com/band/thomquotes.htm
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807–1890) Californian military commander, politician, and rancher
As quoted in The Literature of California: Native American beginnings to 1945 (2000) ed., Jack Hicks
Historical and Personal Memoirs Relating to Alta California (1875)
Samuel Laman Blanchard (1804–1845) British author and journalist
"That what Everybody Says must be True".
Sketches from Life (1846)
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary
Source: The Junius Pamphlet (1915), Ch.1
Ronald DeWolf (1934–1991) American critic of Scientology
Taped Message (1984)
Will Cuppy (1884–1949) American writer
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (1950), Part III: Strange Bedfellows, Lucrezia Borgia
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Things of Which I Know Sunday Morning Session, General Conference, April 1, 2007.
John Brunner book The Sheep Look Up
July “SCRATCHED”
The Sheep Look Up (1972)
“Rumors confirm themselves when duly circulated.”
Samuel Laman Blanchard (1804–1845) British author and journalist
"That what Everybody Says must be True".
Sketches from Life (1846)
Shi Nai'an (1296–1372) Chinese writer
Variant translation by Lin Yutang: "When all my friends come together to my house, there are sixteen persons in all, but it is seldom that they all come. But except for rainy or stormy days, it is also seldom that none of them comes. Most of the days, we have six or seven persons in the house, and when they come, they do not immediately begin to think; they would take a sip when they feel like it and stop when they feel like it, for they regard the pleasure as consisting in the conversation, and not in the wine. We do not talk about court politics, not only because it lies outside our proper occupation, but also because at such a distance most of the news is based upon hearsay; hearsay news is mere rumour, and to discuss rumours would be a waste of our saliva. We also do not talk about people's faults, for people have no faults, and we should not malign them. We do not say things to shock people and no one is shocked; on the other hand, we do wish people to understand what we say, but people still don't understand what we say. For such things as we talk about lie in the depths of the human heart, and the people of the world are too busy to hear them." (The Importance of Living, 1937; pp. 218–219)
Preface to Water Margin
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) French painter and sculptor
Quote from: 'Interview with Achille Bonito Oliva', 1986; Republished in: 'Joseph Beuys', Carin Kuoni. Joseph Beuys in America: Energy Plan for the Western Man. New York, 1993
posthumous
Didier Sornette (1957) French scientist
Source: Why Stock Markets Crash - Critical Events in Complex Systems (2003), Chapter 4, Positive Feedbacks, p. 110.
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist
II.
2010s, 2011, Mortality (2012)
“Rumor, I fear, is scarcely as accurate as he is rapid.”
Avram Davidson book The Phoenix and the Mirror
Source: The Phoenix and the Mirror (1969), Chapter 9
“Rumor is rarely more interesting than fact, but it is always more readily available.”
Stephen L. Carter book The Emperor of Ocean Park
Source: The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002), Ch. 46, Resting Places, I
William F. Buckley Jr. (1925–2008) American conservative author and commentator
"Spare Thoughts on Saddam" http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmRjMzcyYjBkZTA0ZGQ4NzI4M2ZkOGNjMTVlNDA4MTU= in National Review Online (2006-12-29).
U.S. State Dep. Foreign Relations Vol. VII, Circular Airgram [868.014]
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
Letter to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector (28 January 1549), quoted in Leah Marcus, Janel Mueller and Mary Rose (eds.), Elizabeth I: Collected Works (The University of Chicago Press, 2002), p. 24.
Alexander H. Stephens (1812–1883) Vice President of the Confederate States (in office from 1861 to 1865)
The Cornerstone Speech (1861)
William L. Shirer book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Source: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960), pp. 131,132
Donald Davidson (1893–1968) American poet, essayist, critic and author
The Horde
“All those rumors about her being underweight are trash. She's gorgeous.”
Ben Stiller (1965) actor, Comedian, director, writer
On Calista Flockhart; reported at Salon.com (1 November 2000) http://www.salon.com/people/col/reit/2000/11/01/npwed
Koenraad Elst (1959) orientalist, writer
2000s, Gujarat after Godhra: Real violence, selective outrage (2003)
Kumar Sangakkara (1977) Sri Lankan cricketer
twitter post, Sangakkara referring to a recent incident when Shane Warne plunged headfirst into a box filled with snakes on an episode of Network Ten show "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!". When Shane lowered his head into the box, an aggressive anaconda bit him, quoted on Sportskeeda, "Kumar Sangakkara trolls Shane Warne over the 'snake-bite' incident" http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/kumar-sangakkara-trolls-shane-warne-snake-bite-incident, March 3, 2016. "It's the last time I'll play a four day game here.I'll be 40 in a few months ,this is about the end of my time in county cricket."
Barbara Walters (1929) American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality
Chris Chase, "A Talk With the Unsinkable Barbara Walters", New York Magazine (March 25, 1974), Vol. 7, No. 12, p. 65.
“On political matters basically the best, though not infallible, source is rumor …”
Robert Conquest (1917–2015) poet and historian from England and the United States
From Grover Furr on Robert Conquest http://www.stalinsociety.org/2015/08/05/grover-furr-on-robert-conquest/ at stalinsociety.org',' 2015/08/05
““Rumors that the sun is out at Santa Ynez are without foundation,” the radio said.”
John Brunner book The Sheep Look Up
December “NOT IN OUR STARS“
The Sheep Look Up (1972)
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/7cncd10.txt (1849), Sunday
Lisa Mason book Summer of Love
Source: Summer of Love (1994), Chapter 10 “Dedicated to the One I Love” (p. 224)
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …
Source: 1950s, The Mechanical Bride (1951), p. 7
Rob Enderle (1954) American financial analyst
BlackBerry and the Lesson That the Technology Market Fails to Learn http://itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/blackberry-and-the-lesson-that-the-technology-market-fails-to-learn.html in IT Business Edge (28 September 2016)
Rand Paul (1963) American politician, ophthalmologist, and United States Senator from Kentucky
The Truthiness of Rand Paul
Jill Lawrence
2013-10-17
National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-truthiness-of-rand-paul-20131017
2013-10-21
2010s
George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States
2nd Presidential Debate, October 8, 2004 http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004c.html <br class="br">2000s, 2004
W. Cleon Skousen (1913–2006) ex FBI agent, conservative United States author and faith-based political theorist
The Making of America (1986)
Charles Stross book Singularity Sky
Source: Singularity Sky (2003), Chapter 14, “The Telephone Repairman” (pp. 296-297)
Christopher Monckton (1952) British public speaker and hereditary peer
7 steps that'll land Obama in jail http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/7-steps-thatll-land-obama-in-jail/ WorldNetDaily, December 31, 2013.
Davey Havok (1975) American singer
Being asked about his orientation. SFGate, June 11, 2006 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:T0a5NuTLJPUJ:articles.sfgate.com/2006-06-11/entertainment/17297619_1_green-day-decemberunderground-miss-murder/2&hl=en&strip=1
Jay-Z (1969) American rapper, businessman, entrepreneur, record executive, songwriter, record producer and investor
The Bounce
The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Prophet
Clive Barker book Weaveworld
“He’s a man: he wants adoration.”She gazed over Suzanna’s shoulder toward the unweaving, and the Salesman, still in its midst. “And that’s what he’s got. So he’s happy.”
Part Seven “The Demagogue”, Chapter x “Fatalities”, Section 1 (p. 321)
Weaveworld (1987), BOOK TWO: THE FUGUE
James Van Der Beek (1977) actor
CinemaSource: James Van Der Beek Interview: Dan Deevy, January 28, 2008 http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/interviews/james-van-der-beek-interview-for-the-rules-of-attraction/
Will Eisner (1917–2005) American cartoonist
Source: The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (10/2/2005), pp.36-39
Hunter S. Thompson book Fear and Loathing in America
Comment on the protest activity at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, as quoted in "The Doctor Is In" by Curtis Wilkie, in The Boston Globe Magazine (7 February 1988), p. 16
As quoted in the editors note by Douglas Brinkley, in Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist (2000), p. xvi ISBN 0747553459
1980s
Variant: I went to the Democratic Convention as a journalist, and returned a cold-blooded revolutionary.
Jerome (345–420) Catholic saint and Doctor of the Church
Letter to Lady Principia (412) bewailing the sack of Rome by the Visigoths on August 24, 410; as quoted by John Freely in Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)
Letters