A man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant decorums which other people may observe.
 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (28 January 1813). copy citation

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Author Jane Austen
Source Pride and Prejudice
Topic decorum time
Date 28 January 1813
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm

Context

“If it were not allowable for him to gain my affections because I had no money, what occasion could there be for making love to a girl whom he did not care about, and who was equally poor?" "But there seems an indelicacy in directing his attentions towards her so soon after this event." "A man in distressed circumstances has not time for all those elegant decorums which other people may observe. If she does not object to it, why should we?" "Her not objecting does not justify him. It only shows her being deficient in something herself—sense or feeling." "Well," cried Elizabeth, "have it as you choose.” source