To be good and to be ill spoken of by the people
Is better than to be bad and considered good by them.

Sa'adi (1184-1283/1291?) Persian poet [a.k.a. Sa'di, Moslih Eddin Sa'adi, Mushrif-ud-Din Abdullah, Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn Abdullah, Mosleh al-Din Saadi Shirazi, Shaikh Mosslehedin Saadi Shirazi]

The Gulistan, ch. 2, Story 25 (1258) [tr. Rehatsek (1964)]