"Alexander von Humboldt (seeing a newspaper containing slanderous falsehoods against Jefferson on the President's desk) : Why do you not have the fellow hung who dares to write these abominable lies? Thomas Jefferson : What! hang the guardians of the public morals? No, sir, — rather would I protect the spirit of freedom which dictates even that degree of abuse. Put that paper into your pocket, my good friend, carry it with you to Europe, and when you hear any one doubt the reality of American freedom, show them that paper, and tell them where you found it. Humboldt : But is it not shocking that virtuous characters should be defamed? Jefferson : Let their actions refute such libels. Believe me, virtue is not long darkened by the clouds of calumny; and the temporary pain which it causes is infinitely overweighed by the safety it insures against degeneracy in the principles and conduct of public functionaries. When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property."

"Woe unto every slandering traducer."

"Do not repeat slander; you should not hear it, for it is the result of hot temper."

"A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue."

"'T was Slander filled her mouth with lying words, Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin."

"For oh, 'twas nuts to the Father of Lies, (As this wily fiend is named in the Bible) To find it settled by Laws so wise That the greater the truth, the worse the libel."

"This is not a book. This is libel, slander, defamation of character. This is not a book, in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit in the face of Art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Destiny, Time, Love, Beauty … what you will."

"Audacter calumniare, quia semper aliquid adhæret. Hurl your calumnies boldly, for something is sure to stick."

"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."

"If you think you can, by slandering a woman make her love you, or by vilifying a man make him vote with you, go on and try it."

"Persisting in a charge which one does not know to be true, is simply malicious slander."

"Peter Parker: Spider-Man wasn't terrorizing the city, he was trying to save it! It's slander!"

"Not all defamation is art; some is incitement."

"…repeating defamation taken from another source is still defamation. The fact that the victim has not sued others who spread the defamation first does not authorize anybody to repeat their slanderous statements."

"Dens Theonina."

"For 32 years (1884-1916) the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was Charles Taze Russell. He was a fearless preacher and a prolific writer. He boldly denounced and refuted the Trinity doctrine, the immortal soul and eternal hellfire teachings. At one time Russell’s sermons were being featured every week in some 3,000 newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. Consequently he was under constant attack, mainly by the clergy. Many of his enemies stooped to personal attacks in an attempt to discredit him. How did he view these slanderers? He once said: “If you stop to kick at every dog that barks at you, you’ll never get very far.”"

"Slander is compared to an arrow, not to any other handy weapon, such as a sword, etc., because like an arrow it kills at a distance. It can be uttered in Rome and have its baneful effect in Syria."

"I hate the man who builds his name On ruins of another's fame. Thus prudes, by characters o'erthrown, Imagine that they raise their own. Thus Scribblers, covetous of praise, Think slander can transplant the bays."

"Every libel, which is called famosus libellus, is made either against a private man, or against a public person. If it be against a private man, it deserves a severe punishment."

""Or he might say: 'Having abandoned slander, the recluse Gotama abstains from slander. He does not repeat elsewhere what he has heard here in order to divide others from the people here, nor does he repeat here what he has heard elsewhere in order to divide these from the people there. Thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided and a promoter of friendships. Rejoicing, delighting, and exulting in concord, he speaks only words that are conducive to concord.'"

"Abandoning false speech, the ascetic Gotama dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. Abandoning malicious speech, he does not repeat there what he has heard here to the detriment of these, or repeat here what he has heard there to the detriment of those. Thus he is a reconciler of those at variance and an encourager of those at one, rejoicing in peace, loving it, delighting in it, one who speaks up for peace. Abandoning harsh speech, he refrains from it. He speaks whatever is blameless, pleasing to the ear, agreeable, reaching the heart, urbane, pleasing and attractive to the multitude. Abandoning idle chatter, he speaks at the right time, what is correct and to the point, of Dhamma and discipline. He is a speaker whose words are to be treasured, seasonable, reasoned, well-defined and connected with the goal."

"DEFAME, v.t. To lie about another. To tell the truth about another."

"Slander is a poison which extinguishes charity, both in the slanderer and in the persons who listen to it."

"Calomniez, calomniez; il en reste toujours quelque chose."

"When squint-eyed Slander plies the unhallow'd tongue, From poison'd maw when Treason weaves his line, And Muse apostate (infamy to song!) Grovels, low muttering, at Sedition's shrine."

"He'd undertake to prove, by force Of argument, a man's no horse. He'd prove a buzzard is no fowl, And that a Lord may be an owl, A calf an Alderman, a goose a Justice, And rooks, Committee-men or Trustees."

"You can't win an argument by being right, either"

"Agreed to differ."

"Soon their crude notions with each other fought; The adverse sect denied what this had taught; And he at length the amplest triumph gain'd, Who contradicted what the last maintain'd."

"One single positive weighs more, You know, than negatives a score."

"In argument Similes are like songs in love: They must describe; they nothing prove."

"In some places he draws the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument."

"Demosthenes, when taunted by Pytheas that all his arguments "smelled of the lamp," replied, "Yes, but your lamp and mine, my friend, do not witness the same labours.""

"Discors concordia."

"Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument About it and about: but evermore Came out by the same door wherein I went."

"There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat."

"Seria risu risum, seriis discutere."

"Nay, if he take you in hand, sir, with an argument, He'll bray you in a mortar."

"I always admired Mrs. Grote's saying that politics and theology were the only two really great subjects."

"The daughter of debate That still discord doth sow."

"How agree the kettle and the earthen pot together?"

"The noble Lord (Stanley) was the Prince Rupert to the Parliamentary army—his valour did not always serve his own cause."

"I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with comprehension."

"Much might be said on both sides."

"Ah, don't say that you agree with me. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong."

"Ignorantia non est argumentum."

"She hath prosperous art When she will play with reason and discourse, And well she can persuade."

"For they are yet but ear-kissing arguments."

"There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things."