Collection of Gossip Quotes: In this article, we try to understand the meaning and effects of gossip. Gossips can either be true or false. Just because something is true, it doesn’t justify spreading gossip if it hurts someone. Maybe the first thought that should come to us is about humanity and empathy. Perhaps a great reminder is this quote – Be Kind, Everyone you meet is fighting a battle. Although we talk about gossip, the moment it hurts someone, empathy ought to take higher precedence.
For someone facing the gossip, I’d recommend reading through how to deal with gossips for some practical tips.
Some immediate questions that come to mind when you hear gossip are:
- Why are people doing this to me?
- Have I wronged anyone to deserve this?
- How do I make this stop right away?
No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues
– Bertrand Russell
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear gossip about you? I’m assuming anger, hurt, impatience and sadness are common responses.
If you were to take a lighter note and ask this question – why do people gossip? The simplest answer is – it is fun. Most people don’t stop to think about the impact gossip can cause. Gossips invariably by nature are about momentary fun. Most times, these gossips are mindless rants which don’t invest in vetting the truth. Unfortunately, these rumours are little about virtues but mostly about shortcomings.
Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people – Socrates Gossip Quotes
This is probably one of the most cliched quotes about gossip. But I think it is one of the most effective reminders as well. You can see a pattern in most of our articles about time and its preciousness.
Gossips for all their folly do provide entertainment value. It is almost like a bribe – the person receiving it is equally to blame as the person giving. The same applies to rumours too. If you deny an exchange channel for the gossip, they don’t have a place to thrive.
I don’t think people indulging in gossip are all bad. The problem however is that they don’t stop and consider its impact. For a moment, if someone knows that their actions cause hurt to someone else, the gossip will reduce by a significant percentage.
Isn’t it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?- Sean Covey
This quote is inspired by the book – 7 habits of highly effective teens. Gossips are exactly that! They are meant to be harmless exchanges of silly information.
By the nature of it, these gossips are about demeaning someone else. The green-eyed jealousy plays a small part in making yourself feel better. Most gossips are often about making yourself feel better rather than hurting someone else.
These gossips unfortunately are not victimless crimes. If your motivations are driven by bringing someone down, then your thought process is slightly messed up. Your feel-good factor is internal – it cannot be based on what others are – this is too much control for external factors in your personal life which is sacred!
Often those that criticise others reveal what he himself lacks – Shannon L Alder
Criticism and gossips are obvious cries for attention. They both care about ego satisfaction rather than helping someone. If you truly want to help someone, there are better ways than criticism. You can choose kindness and the attitude to help.
Before spreading any gossip, if you stop for a moment and think.
- Who is the source of this gossip?
- What does this creator gain from the rumour/criticism?
- Does it enhance my life in any way?
- Will it enable the enrichment of my thoughts?
Your personal space is precious. By this, I mean your mental setup is highly valuable to be disturbed by nuisances like this.
Before indulging in gossip, recognise whether you are being played. If you are interested in knowing more about the reasons why people gossip, it can be found here.
It’s only gossip if you repeat it. Until then, it’s gathering information – Mercedes Lackey
Gossips don’t thrive in a vacuum. Every successful gossip needs two people – a creator and a spreader. The problem is when these spreaders are supported. With every gossip, you can play an active role. Unfortunately staying silent is also considered to encourage gossip. If you are not able to confront gossip – walk away.
Don’t give a sense of satisfaction to the creator and fall prey to their petty gains. Your time is precious to waste on these activities. If you are not gaining anything valuable, don’t indulge in a conversation for the fun of it. The end result of such gossip is someone else getting hurt or worse.
Those who gossip with you will gossip about you – Edgar Allan Poe
People who indulge in rumours find it exciting. They don’t do it out of spite. The thrill in these gossips is in laughter and a glint in the eye when someone spreads it or believes them.
If you are a part of this gossip party, you may think that you belong to the community. But the gossip community has only one rule. Gossips don’t have any preferences.
If you are okay with indulging in gossiping about someone, you must be ok with someone else doing the same to you. After all, it is the concept of equality right?
Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around
– Frank A. Clark
Often people think that gossips are lies or unverified information. However, a label of truth seems to rationalise the thought process and even the ones with great value sets succumb to this weakness. It doesn’t matter whether these rumours are true or false. The question comes back to the impact of this gossip. What is the ultimate purpose and value these rumours create?
Even if it is the truth, if the end result causes hurt to someone else – do you want that responsibility on your shoulder? What if this causes grave trouble to the victim? Just because something was true, would you not feel guilty about the impact it can cause on someone’s life?
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas
Richness in conversations depends on the quality of your topics. I will refer back to the first quote – great minds discuss ideas and small minds discuss people. Before you indulge in gossip – ask yourself. What are you going to benefit from this conversation?
If a conversation is not elevating your thought process and enriching the quality of your emotions -does it even deserve to be in your life? It is your time, in the end, you ought to be selfish about what enters your life. The last two gossip quotes focus on the victims of this gossip.
Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear
Unfortunately, no one cares for the truth. Even if you have proof, these gossips thrive meaninglessly. You are only burning your energy in trying to convince people. It sounds funny, but ignorance is often a very powerful remedy for gossip. Laugh along with them – don’t show weakness.
Somehow, these gossips seem to think of hurt, anger and emotional vulnerability as food to thrive further. You can save yourself a lot of time and hurt by ignoring it completely.
10. Rumor travels faster, but it doesn’t stay put as long as truth-Will Rogers
I will end the collection of our gossip quotes with words from Will Rogers. Gossips are a terrible curse. Most times, people indulge in them without knowing.
This is certainly not an excuse, but if you are the victim – you ought to know that these gossips are like wildfire. Ultimately your personality, character and integrity stays with you.
This gossip hurt and sometimes with no reason or purpose. But they are unfortunately a part of our lives. Instead of letting them control you – note that they will fizzle out someday.
And if they don’t – you will find a way to deal with them better. But they don’t have any more control on you than you allow.
These were our top 10 gossip quotes for the collection. If you think I have missed any, please do share your favourites, it will be an honour to widen our list.
These gossip quotes address these questions above indirectly. A slideshow of these quotes is available for free download in the link below.
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