REPUTATION QUOTES II
quotations about reputation
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Othello
How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.
PETRARCH
attributed, Day's Collacon
People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are.
GEORGE ELIOT
Middlemarch
Reputation is commonly measured by the acre.
ENGLISH PROVERB
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln's Own Stories
The gain which is made at the expense of reputation should rather be set down as a loss.
ITALIAN PROVERB
Reputation, my dear, reputation. Lose it, and you have lost the immortal part of yourself. What remains is no more than bestial.
JENNIFER LEE CARRELL
Interred With Their Bones
By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.
EMILY BRONTË
Wuthering Heights
Fame's a weed, but repute is a slow-growing oak, and all we can do during our lifetimes is hop around like squirrels and plant acorns.
NEAL STEPHENSON
Quicksilver
There are two modes of establishing our reputation; to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
attributed, Incredible Quotations
Treat a man as if he had a fine reputation to protect, and he will usually endeavor to deserve it.
ORSON SCOTT CARD
Pathfinder
And reputation bleeds in ev'ry word.
CHARLES CHURCHILL
Apology
He that is so respectless in his courses,
Oft sells his reputation at a cheap market.
BEN JONSON
Every Man in His Humor
However much of time, labor, or other means it takes to establish a reputation, it frequently happens that it requires nearly as much to maintain it. One who has written a good book, is expected on all occasions to "talk like a book." Or, if one has achieved an act of heroism, he is expected to perform acts of heroism for the edification of all who approach him. There are people who can never believe they see a lion unless they hear him roar.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought
A man's reputation has been very aptly compared to a sheet of white paper; if it be once blotted, it can hardly ever be made to look as white as before.
RICHARD DE BURY
attributed, Day's Collacon
A man's reputation is not in his own keeping, but lies at the mercy of the profligacy of others. Calumny requires no proof. The throwing out [of] malicious imputations against any character leaves a stain, which no after-refutation can wipe out. To create an unfavourable impression, it is not necessary that certain things should be true, but that they have been said. The imagination is of so delicate a texture that even words wound it.
WILLIAM HAZLITT
Characteristics
He who worries about reputation,
Has a reputation to worry about.
EDWIN LEIBFREED
"The Song of the Soul"
Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can't be good, be careful.
BALTASAR GRACIAN
The Art of Worldly Wisdom
There is no reputation so clear, but a slanderer may stain it.
PIERRE DE LARIVEY
attributed, Day's Collacon