He that gilty is
Demeth alle thyng be spoke of hym, ywis.
Modern English:
The guilty think all talk is of themselves.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. Cato the Elder originally coined this phrase. The passage refers to people with a guilty conscience, who think that people are talking about them and their deeds and they fear they will be exposed. Cato’s original saying was: "The conspirator believes that everything spoken refers to himself."