Quotations on: Necessity

Necessity, who is the mother of invention.

Necessity is the mother of invention" is a silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges" is much nearer the truth.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

Necessity is not an established fact, but an interpretation.

Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

Only that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.

Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

The historical process has created the preconditions, both material and intellectual, for the realisation of Reason (Hegel) in the organisation (Marx), for the convergence of freedom and necessity. However, freedom which converges with (or is even absorbed by) necessity is not the final form of freedom. At this ultimate point, Hegel and Marx again agree. The realm of true freedom is beyond the realm of necessity. Freedom as well as necessity is redefined. For Hegel, ultimate freedom resides in the realm of the Absolute Spirit. For Marx, the realm of necessity is to be mastered by a society whose reproduction has been subjected to the control of the individuals, and freedom is the free play of individual faculties outside the realm of necessary labour. Freedom is 'confined' to free time - but free time is, quantitatively and qualitatively, the very content of life.

Necessity reconciles and brings men together; and this accidental connection afterwards forms itself into laws.

Necessity hath no law. Feigned necessities, imaginary necessities, are the greatest cozenage men can put upon the Providence of God, and make pretences to break known rules by.

Political necessities sometime turn out to be political mistakes.

The necessary has never been man's top priority. The passionate pursuit of the nonessential and the extravagant is one of the chief traits of human uniqueness. Unlike other forms of life, man's greatest exertions are made in the pursuit not of necessities but of superfluities.

In the usual progress of things, the necessities of a nation in every stage of its existence will be found at least equal to its resources.

The degree of a nation's civilization is marked by its disregard for the necessities of existence.

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.

Teach thy necessity to reason thus; There is no virtue like necessity.

Great necessity elevates man, petty necessity casts him down.

Necessity teaches all things.

The superfluous, a very necessary thing.

To think at its best is to find oneself carried down the current of necessity.

Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity.

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.

Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness; on the confines of the two everlasting empires, necessity and free will.

Necessity makes even the timid brave.

Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.

Necessity is the mother of "taking chances".

We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.

Looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not.