Judging Others is One of Our Favorite Activities

Like most of us, John Burke (pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas) assumed that he was not a judgmental person. But just in case he was wrong, he ...

Why We Rejoice when Famous People Fail

Why do we enjoy watching others—especially rich, powerful, famous people—"fall from grace"? Joseph Epstein commented on our need ...

Small Town Embittered by Anonymous Gossip

In September 2011, The New York Times ran an article about a small town in Missouri called Mountain Grove. Gossip and rumors have always existed in this ...

Writer Tries to Go One Month Without Saying Hurtful Words

We've all heard the old adage, "If you can't find anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all." In an article ...

"Reply All" Ad Depicts Email Regret

One of the popular ads debuted at the 2011 Super Bowl broadcast was titled "Reply All," by Bridgestone Tires. Two men are working at their computers ...

Author Michael Crichton on the Power of False Information

In 1998, Michael Crichton, author of the best-seller Jurassic Park, wrote a book entitled State of Fear, a fictional look at a global disaster caused ...

Living an Open Life

Live so that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.

—Will Rogers, actor, writer, and speaker, 1879–1935

Confronting the Addiction of Harmful Words

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, has lectured throughout this country on the powerful, and often negative, impact of ...

Tasmanian Devils Spread Cancer with Their Mouths

Australian scientists discovered the cause of a mysterious disease that had killed thousands of Tasmanian Devils on the island state of Tasmania. The ...

Prayer Deters Gossip

We never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray!

—Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill (1907–1994)