susie & sally.

We live in a time where it's super easy to talk about people.
I think a lot of that has to do what we're constantly exposed to.  Stand in line at the grocery store for 30 seconds, and you pretty much have a list of negative qualities of every current celebrity right in front of you.  The news, the internet, people in general. . .all eager to spill juicy details of how someone has screwed up their life.  We're constantly exposed to these types of stories, and have even learned to be attracted to these details.
And really, how long can that go on before it starts making its way into your day to day life?

People are going to hurt you.  Be nasty to you.  Lie and say mean things.
And we live in a time where its just so easy to retaliate with some of our own ammo.
Hop on twitter and deliver your judgement on someone's character in 140 letters or less.
And since you didn't really say anything, you feel satisfaction without having to have confrontation.
[Side note: don't be a bully.  And if you just can't help but to retaliate, say your piece to someone's face, not online where everyone can see and add in on.  That's being cowardly and rude.  Stop it.]

Here's a thought:

What Susie says of Sally says more of Susie that of Sally.

In other words, what you say about someone else says more about you than it says about whoever you're talking about.

If we all honestly kept that in our mind when we spoke, we would all be a heck of a lot happier.

And really, do you want to be perceived as a crazy, frantic, mean, vindictive person?  No?  Good, then we're on the same page.  So I'll go ahead and give you a tiny bit of advice here.
There is a very fine line between talking about someone and being mean, vindictive, and--let's just say it--crazy.  And most of us don't even realize when we cross it.  In fact, we're usually miles from the line before we even think we may have gone too far.

I wrote a post a few months ago on how important your words are for the sake of other's.
But your words are also important for the sake of yourself.

Be careful what you say, because what better judgement could people make on you than a judgement based on the things coming out of your own mouth?

Do you want to be known as a loving person?
Speak in love.
Do you want to be known as a kind person?
Speak kindly about others.
Speak the way you want others to perceive you as. 
And remember that the words you speak say way more about you than they do about whatever you are talking about.