Needs must

Posted by ESC on April 30, 2001

In Reply to: Needs must posted by Bruce Kahl on April 30, 2001

: : Anyone out there know the meaning and origin of the phrase "needs must when the devil drives"?

: Shakespeare in All's Well That-Ends Well, i. 3.
: "He must needs go that the Devil drives"

: The French say: "Il faut marcher quand le diable est aux trousses;" and the Italians say: "Bisogna andare, quando il diavolo è vella coda." If I must, I must.

: Definitions of similar phrases: It must be; it needs must be; it cannot be helped; che sarà sarà; there is no help for it; there is no alternative; nothing for it but; necessity has no law; needs must when the devil drives; dis aliter visum.

What can't be cured, must be endured.