Let Someone Else tell it

These words were uttered by the autocrat of the breakfast table, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Don't flatter yourselves that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. On the contrary, the nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become. Except in cases of necessity, which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant truths  from his or her enemies; they are ready enough to tell them. Good breeding never forgets that self respect is universal.