Five years later maybe I would have said, “Maybe that’s her price.” Because she got in trouble at last. Or so they said. I don’t know, except that most of the talk about girls, women, is envy or retaliation by the ones that don’t dare to and the ones that failed to. But while he was gone one April they were whispering how she had got in trouble at last and had tried to doctor herself with turpentine and was bad sick.

From “Hair” by William Faulkner

This snippet addresses the terrible sin of gossiping. “Most of the talk about girls, women, is envy or retaliation by the ones that don’t dare to and the ones that failed to.” Faulkner goes  straight to the point and keeps this paragraph simple and effective. I believe one must do what one thinks is right and disregard any unsolicited advice or criticism.  There is nothing more joyful than to be true to oneself. I have selected a couple of quotes:

“Those who talk about other people’s life have their own empty.”  Plato

“Often those who criticize others reveal what he himself lacks.” Shannon  L. Alder