"The right of a nation to kill a tyrant, in cases of necessity, can no more be doubted, than to hang a robber, or kill a flea. But killing one tyrant only makes way for worse, unless the people have sense, spirit and honesty enough to establish and support a constitution guarded at all points against the tyranny of the one, the few, and the many."
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John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787), Ch. 18
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Necessity
Necessity is the quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite. In Greek mythology this quality was personified as the goddess Ananke who was mother of the Moirae, the Fates; in Roman mythology she was known as Necessitas. This page is for quotations on the theme of Necessity and the necessary.
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