No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
To wage against the emnity o' th' air,
To read more

No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
To wage against the emnity o' th' air,
To be a comrade with the wolf and owl,
Necessity's sharp pinch.

Now we sit close about this taper here
And call in question our necessities.

Now we sit close about this taper here
And call in question our necessities.

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!

By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts read more

By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent.

Without death and decay, how could life go on?

Without death and decay, how could life go on?

It is in these useless and superfluous things that I am rich and
happy.

It is in these useless and superfluous things that I am rich and
happy.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

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.]

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.