If you can't say something nice.....

I was recently reading some posts online about one of my favorite teachers. Someone decided to ask a question and spread some gossip she'd heard. I refuted the message but it made me think again of what my mother had taught me growing up. "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." Maybe what that woman said was true, but to what purpose was it to say it? This teacher passed away and is not around to dispute what was said about him. It makes me sad that someone felt the need to say something that could have ruined the reputation of a good man. I wish she had held her tongue and lived by that simple rule taught to me.