quotations about rumors
Rumors can shape the public opinion of a society by affecting and coordinating the individual beliefs of its members.
ZHENG YOU XIA & LAILEI HUANG
"Emergence of Social Rumor: Modeling, Analysis, and Simulations", Computational Science
Even the absurdest report may in nearly every instance be traced to an actual occurrence; and had there been no such actual occurrence, this preposterous misrepresentation of it would never have existed. Though the distorted or magnified image transmitted to us through the refracting medium of rumour, is utterly unlike the reality; yet in the absence of the reality there would have been no distorted or magnified image.
HERBERT SPENCER
First Principles
A rumor is like a check--never endorse it till you're sure it's genuine.
G. KLEISER
Dictionary of Proverbs
When a man is in trouble, any rumor is sufficient to complete his ruin.
G. W. CLINTON
attributed, Day's Collacon
It was a running joke; everyone was aware of how ridiculous the rumor mill was, and yet they all shamelessly participated in it.
JAMIE MCGUIRE
Beautiful Disaster
How violently do rumors blow the sails of popular judgments.
PHILIP SIDNEY
attributed, Day's Collacon
A rumor is like busting a feather pillow in a windstorm. You never get all the feathers back.
EARL EMERSON
Vertical Burn
Coming events cast their rumors before. From a careful study of rumors the discerning may learn a good deal, providing always that they never take them at face value but try to read beneath the surface.
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY
"As To Rumors", Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of Grub Street
Rumors explain the unknown or the poorly understood, creating comprehensible narratives. They make sense out of ambiguous events. Sometimes even those who are the subject of rumors are tempted to believe or at least repeat them because they throw a more positive light on events than the personal version would do.
KSENIJA BILBIJA
The Art of Truth-telling about Authoritarian Rule
Some people and some groups are predisposed to accept certain rumors, because those rumors are compatible with their self-interest, or with what they think they know to be true.
CASS R. SUNSTEIN
On Rumors
Many a good name has been lost by a false rumor.
CHARLES HUTTON
attributed, Day's Collacon
Where do rumors come from?... I suppose the majority of rumors are a combination of leaked information and the astounding imaginations of numerous storytellers. And, of course, the hope that things aren't really as boring as they seem on the surface.
MAX FREI
The Stranger
Idle rumors were also added to well-founded apprehensions.
MARCUS ANNAEUS LUCANUS
Pharsalia
Rumors may appear to be random and sometimes malicious accounts of ongoing situations. Yet they serve an extremely important function. Rumors are a means of transmitting critical information about the nature of the disaster situation within the affected population. This information may be simplistic, incomplete, and even incorrect. Nevertheless, it gives disaster victims some guidance and structure in a highly unusual, uncertain situation.
SAUNDRA K. SCHNEIDER
Flirting with Disaster
You and your rumors have two things in common: you're both fake, and you both get around.
ANONYMOUS
There exists no strict line between a rumor and information. The dividing line between information and a rumor is subjective and the result of one's own belief. People call something information when they consider it true and call it a rumor when they consider it false.
MARK SCHINDLER
Rumors in Financial Markets
Rumors aren't always your best source of information.
MICHAEL PRESCOTT
In Dark Places
A rumor--always efficacious in semi-literate societies.
ARTHUR F. WRIGHT
The Sui Dynasty
When a rumor is revealed to be false, social media posts are usually not removed, no apologies are made, and if there was name-calling, the person's reputation remains tarnished.
PATRICIA GAY
"The Mill", Weston Forum, October 1, 2017
Rumors are like abstract art or graffiti--they give you the mood of a place. They give you an emotional background.
JOHN STRALEY
The Curious Eat Themselves