"Find fault, when you must find fault, in private, if possible; and some time after the offense, rather than at the time."

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Source: A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith. Volume I,

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Sydney Smith

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Sydney Smith was an influential English essayist and clergyman known for his sharp wit and insightful commentary on society and human nature.

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"The main question to a novel is -- did it amuse? were you surprised at dinner coming so soon? did you mistake eleven for ten? were you too late to dress? and did you sit up beyond the usual hour? If a novel produces these effects, it is good; if it does not -- story, language, love, scandal itself cannot save it. It is only meant to please; and it must do that or it does nothing."

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