If you suspect that a statement made by one person about another person may cause strife, do not repeat it. In the Torah, the 89 year old Sarah, overhearing an angel of the Lord predicting that she will give birth to a child within a year, laughs to herself and says, "Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment, with my husband so old?" In the next verse, God asks Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?'" (Genesis 18:12-13). Compare Sarah's words with God's, and you will notice that the Lord leaves out the words, "with my husband so old," presumably because these words might hurt or anger Abraham. On the basis of this verse, the Rabbis conclude, "Great is peace, seeing that for its sake even God modified the truth" (Yevamot 65b).
Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
Be of good courage: it will not burst you.
The Wisdom of Ben Sirach 19:10
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, A Code of Jewish Ethics vol. 1, pg. 333
