STOP AND THINK – Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it. (Laurence J. Peter, Canadian educator)
Peter’s statement can be taken in two ways. 1) You’ve forgotten the source of something you’re using in a speech or article you’re writing, and you treat it as your own. That’s not good. Better check your sources and give credit where it’s due. 2) You’ve heard something and you don’t know whether it’s true, so you intentionally don’t pass it on. That’s good.
Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down (Proverbs 26:20).