A Thought

The minute you find yourself saying to someone, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but...." you should just close your mouth, because it's pretty much guaranteed that what's about to come out of it is going to be rude, personal, insensitive, mean, or just plain none of your business. You may as well announce to the person, "I'm about to say something rude, personal, insensitive, mean and frankly, none of my business, but since I couched it in a platitude then it's okay for me to say it."

And that goes for the following as well:

"No offense, but..."
"I feel I can say this to you because we're friends..."
"I'm saying this because I love you..."
"I'm telling you this for your own good..."

Any questions? Engage brain, then open mouth.