best quotations about
Necessity |
and Needs
| 50 quotes | Visits: 3,203 |
Quotations
 | A married man with a family will do anything for money. — Talleyrand, 1754-1838, French statesman & diplomat 18 likes |
 | A man who has no consideration for the needs of his men ought never to be given command. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 6 likes |
 | Grub first, then ethics. — Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer 6 likes |
 | Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 5 likes |
 | Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. — H. Jackson Brown, Jr., 1940-2021, American self-help writer 5 likes |
 | Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale. — Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012, American self-help writer 5 likes |
 | Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 5 likes |
 | Money is the necessity that frees us from necessity. — W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet 4 likes |
 | We give to necessity the praise of virtue. — Quintilian, 35-96 AD, Roman rhetorician 3 likes |
 | From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. — Karl Marx, 1818-1883, German philosopher 3 likes |
 | I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it. — Thomas Edison, 1847-1934, American inventor 3 likes |
 | Freedom is only necessity understood. — William James, 1842-1910, American philosopher 3 likes |
 | Political necessities sometimes turn out to be political mistakes. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 3 likes |
 | It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. — Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965, British writer 2 likes |
 | Necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice. — Vauvenargues, 1715-1747, French author of maxims 2 likes |
 | God knows better than we do what we need. — Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer 2 likes |
 | The tyranny of necessity grants its slaves three kinds of freedom: opinion free from intellect, entertainment free from art, and orgies free from love. — Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer 2 likes |
 | Nothing is necessitated whose opposite is possible. — Gottfried Leibnitz, 1646-1716, German philosopher & mathematician 1 likes |
 | It is what we are forced to do that forms our character, not what we do of our own free will. |
 | Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have. |
 | Necessity is the mistress and guardian of Nature. |
 | If the man does not reach the edge of the cliff, he cannot grow wings to fly. |
 | Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own. — Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, Albanian-Indian nun & missionary |
 | A work of art is good if it has grown out of necessity. |
 | I am one of those for whom superfluity is a necessity. |
 | The human soul needs beauty more than bread. |
 | We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it. |
 | Necessity, they say, is mother of invention, but fear, too, is not barren of ingenious suggestions. |
 | You have no ideas any more. You have only needs. You have finally become an adult. |
 | After bread, education is the first need of the people. |
 | My men can eat their belts, but my tanks have gotta have gas. |
 | People are always bad until they are forced to good by necessity. — Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527, Italian political philosopher |
 | Chance is necessity hidden behind a veil. — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, German author of maxims |
 | In general, “historical necessity” turns out to be merely a name for human stupidity. |
Personal Stories
 | For me, the work is an absolute necessity. I cannot put it off. — Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter 2 likes |
Latin Quotes
 | Necessity has no law. Necessitas non habet legem. 54 likes |
 | Bread and circuses. Panem et circenses. — Juvenal, 1st-2nd cent. AD, Roman satiric poet 42 likes |
Quotes in Verse
 | They might not need me; but they might. I'll let my head be just in sight; A smile as small as mine might be Precisely their necessity. |
Ancient Greek
 | Not even the gods fight necessity. Ανάγκα ουδέ Θεοί μάχονται. — Simonides of Ceos, 556-468 BC, Ancient poet & author of epigrams 6 likes |
 | Timidity is not good for a man in need. Αιδώς δ’ ουκ αγαθή κεχρημένω ανδρί παρείναι. — Homer, c. 800-750 BC, Ancient Greek Poet ‐ Odyssey XVII 6 likes |
 | Necessity is a bad thing, but there is no necessity to live with necessity. Κακόν ανάγκη, αλλ’ ουδεμία ανάγκη ζην μετά ανάγκης. — Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 5 likes |
 | It is necessary to sail, it is not necessary to live. Πλειν ανάγκη, ζην ουκ ανάγκη. — Plutarch, 47-120 AD, Ancient Greek historian ‐ Πομπήιος (general Pompey to sailors who did not want to sail because of a storm) 4 likes |
| All men need the gods. Πάντες δὲ θεών χατέουσ' άνθρωποι. — Homer, c. 800-750 BC, Ancient Greek Poet ‐ Odyssey III 3 likes |
 | Strongest is Necessity because it governs all things. Ισχυρότατον ανάγκη· κρατεί γαρ πάντων. — Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 3 likes |
 | Necessity makes everybody stronger. Άπαντας αυτών κρείσσονας ανάγκη ποιεί. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 3 likes |
 | The power of necessity is irresistible. Το της ανάγκης εστί αδήριτον σθένος. — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Prometheus Bound 3 likes |
Proverbs
 | Necessity is the mother of invention. 4 likes |
| A friend in need is a friend indeed. 4 likes |
 | The best horse needs a whip, the wisest man advice, and the most chaste woman a man. 3 likes |
