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It is never disgraceful to say, “I cannot afford it.”
It is shameful to commit yourself to expenditure that you know you
cannot afford and should not make, just because someone else urges you
to go against your own better judgment. I have real respect for a person
who can say, simple and cheerfully without any self-consciousness, “I
cannot afford it.” But I hate to hear a long, drawn-out explanation of
why. As a matter of fact, we should never demand to know why a person
cannot spend money on something he says he cannot afford, unless there
is a sound reason for his finding some way to afford it. Then you may,
if you feel you should, try to show him that way, quietly and without
irritating him.
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