My dear friend,
You have called upon me to do something to counteract the rumours currently circulating in the town, in which my own affairs have become the subject of such extraordinary interest. Jean Paul once met Goethe and the two men discussed the shameless and malicious rumours which at various times had been spread about each of them; Jean Paul stated that he would take no action against such tales, or at least he would wait until it was claimed he had stolen silver spoons; Goethe said that even then he would do nothing. Although I cannot, alas, compare with a man like Goethe, you will nevertheless, I hope, permit me to follow his example in treating with the most utter contempt this disgusting rumour which, the greater the heights of stupidity it reaches, the sooner it must collapse for want of support. [...]
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 73