Quote
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Note
With characteristic wit, Austen defends the value of novels. This is both playful and serious: reading fiction is a form of intelligence and empathy, not frivolity. It's an internal standard in the sense that the capacity to enjoy and learn from stories reflects openness, imagination, and emotional sensitivity. Austen here champions her own art form, suggesting that literature enriches the inner life and those who dismiss it miss something essential.