Never sue anyone out of their pajamas

Ok I've learned a lesson. Never sue someone out of his pajamas.

When the guy next door was moving in last year he hit the stone wall at the end of the driveway with the moving truck. Knocked over a stone post with a light on it. The light had to be replaced to include wiring under my driveway. It's not cheap to dig up the bricks and relay them. and It didn't look right when they were done. You could tell where it had been repaired. so I had to get my whole driveway redone. When I sent the bill to the neighbor who knocked down the wall he said he wouldn't pay it. He was only willing to pay the $2300 for repairing the post and light but not the 18K for redoing the driveway. So naturally I sued him. He came to me all contrite trying to settle out of court. He had been layed off from his job and had been selling his furniture to pay his mortgage each month. He said he was down to the bare minimum having very little left to sell and was trying to keep his credit record from being hurt as he was quite sure he would be recalled to work soon and things would get back to normal. I told him I was still going to sue him. The next time I saw him he was at the mailbox getting his mail and was wearing his pajamas. He asked again for a break saying the only thing he had left was the shirt on his back and his good name. I told him I was going to sue him right out of his pajamas. That's when he started crying and he took off his pajamas and threw them at me saying here you go you broke me take them. And then he just layed on his front lawn sobbing. I looked out an hour later and he was still laying there naked so I called the cops. They came and took him to a mental institute. When we looked in the house to get him some clothes the house was empty. Not one stick of furniture. Just a have eaten box of crackers and a paper cup. There was a shirt and pair of jeans in the bathtub. Guess he'd been washing them by hand. I felt kinda bad about suing him when he was in such dire straits. I'd thought he'd been exagerating. so now I know. Never sue someone out of his pajamas. Leave him a little dignity. So I dropped the lawsuit but that stint in the mental institute is going to make it harder for him to get another job if his current employer doesn't recall him. Does it make it better if I feel bad about this ? I hope he forgives me. I even brought him back his pajamas.