Needs must …
November 20, 2007
Needs must
Meaning – Necessity compels. In current usage this phrase is usually used to express something that is done unwillingly but with an acceptance that it can’t be avoided.
Origin – The phrase is old. In earlier texts it is almost always given in its fuller form – needs must when the devil drives. I.e. if the devil is driving you, you have no choice. This dates back to Middle English texts, for example Assembly of Gods, circa 1500:
“He must nedys go that the deuell dryues.”
Shakespeare used the phrase several times. For example, in All’s Well That Ends Well, 1602:
Countess: Tell me thy reason why thou wilt marry.
Clown: My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives.
