The young woman was nice enough, but to her parent's annoyance was an unrelenting gossip. One morning at breakfast, she startled her father with a bit of neighborhood news:
"Daddy," said she, "the church members who moved in across the street are secret drinkers."
Her father glared,
"Young lady, how many times must I tell you not to repeat rumors and stick to the fact."
"But pop," she protested, "it's a fact that rumors are flying ..."
---------------A Final Thought ...
"It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart: the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you."
- Mark Twain (1835–1910), U.S. author