Necessity is the...

Posted by ESC on November 19, 2000

In Reply to: Origin or etymology posted by Sheri on November 19, 2000

: I am wanting to know the origin of the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention".
: Help ... please.

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION - " Dire situations inspire ingenious solutions. If worse comes to worst, people will apply all their imagination and skill to deal with the problem. In Latin: 'Mater artium necessitas.' The adage has been traced back to 'Vulgaria' . In 1658, Richard Franck wrote in his 'Northern Memoirs': 'Art imitates Nature, and Necessity is the Mother of Invention.' The proverb was first attested in the United States in 'William Fitzhugh and His Chesapeake World' ." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).