Put no faith in tale-bearers.

Meaning: Gossips distort truth through retelling, making their reports unreliable guides for judgment.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Wisdom

• Temperance is the best physic. — Moderation in food, drink, and habits prevents disease better than medicine can cure it.
• Gather thistles, expect prickles. — Planting harmful seeds guarantees painful consequences; you reap what you sow literally a…
• No rose without a thorn. — Beautiful things inherently carry pain or difficulty as inseparable companions in life.
• Roses, mind you, have thorns. — Beauty demands caution; attractive things often conceal hidden dangers or painful consequ…
• Second thoughts are best. — Hasty decisions often falter; pausing to reconsider reveals wiser paths forward.
• Every tide has its ebb. — Periods of decline inevitably follow periods of flourishing; change is the only constant…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…