The nature of bad news affects the teller.
Lord Bacon told Sir Edward Coke when he was boasting, The less you speak of your greatness, the more shall I think of it.
There is no such sport as sport by sport o'erthrown.
Religious canons, civil laws, are cruel; then what should war be?
O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note, to drown me in thy sisterโs flood of tears.
We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.