My steps have pressed the flowers,
That to the Muses' bowers
The eternal dews of Helicon have read more

My steps have pressed the flowers,
That to the Muses' bowers
The eternal dews of Helicon have given:
And trod the mountain height,
Where Science, young and bright,
Scans with poetic gaze the midnight-heaven.
Yet have I found no power to vie
With thine, severe necessity!

Necessity knows no law except to conquer.

Necessity knows no law except to conquer.

Necessity is stronger far than art.

Necessity is stronger far than art.

Necessity dispenseth with decorum.

Necessity dispenseth with decorum.

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

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

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.

Necessity when threatening is more powerful than device of man.
[Lat., Efficacior omni arte imminens necessitas.]

Necessity when threatening is more powerful than device of man.
[Lat., Efficacior omni arte imminens necessitas.]

Art imitates nature, and necessity is the mother of invention.

Art imitates nature, and necessity is the mother of invention.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.