Quotes about Necessity

Good wine is a necessity of life for me.

A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.

Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the one thing necessary may be, in our lives, and in gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find that everything else is given us together with the one thing we needed.

Good storytelling is one thing rural whites and Indians have in common. But native Americans have learned through harsh necessity that people who survive encroachment by another culture need story to survive. And a storytelling tradition is something Plains people share with both ancient and contemporary monks; we learn our ways of being and reinforce our values by telling tales about each other.

To eat in a monastery refectory is an exercise in humility; daily, one is reminded to put communal necessity before individual preference. While consumer culture speaks only to preferences, treating even whims as needs to be granted (and the sooner the better), monastics sense that this pandering to delusions of self-importance weakens the true self, and diminishes our ability to distinguish desires from needs. It's a price they're not willing to pay.

The necessity for a water-based canopy about the earth is not directly stated in the text. It is an interpretation of the text. Keep in mind that it is the text that is inspired, not our interpretations of it.

Would undisputed evidence of the ark be of value? Absolutely. But is it necessary for one's faith? Not in the least. So do not forget this point: the Bible is true, and Christ is who He says He is, regardless of whether anyone finds the remains of the ark or not.

A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.

How base a thing it is when a man will struggle with necessity! We have to die.

Mere parsimony is not economy . . . expense, and great expense, may be an essential part of true economy.

Man's capacity for evil makes democracy necessary and man's capacity for good makes democracy possible.

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.