He needs must go that the devil drives.
Meaning: Desperation compels action when circumstances leave no choice but obedience to dire necessity.
Origin: John Heywood's 1546 collection has "he must needs go that the devil drives," and the clown in Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well repeats it. It means that circumstances force your hand; the modern shorthand is simply "needs must."
More proverbs about Challenge
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- A drowning man will catch at a straw. — Desperation drives people to grasp at even the most fragile solutions when facing catastr…
- Drink water like an ox, wine like a king of Spain. — Quench thirst with plain necessity; reserve indulgence for rare, celebratory moments.
- He who drinks when he is not dry, will be dry when he has no drink. — Wasteful indulgence during abundance ensures deprivation when scarcity arrives.
- Drive not a second nail till the first is clenched. — Complete each task fully before beginning another, ensuring solid progress rather than sc…
From our untranslatable words
- Verschlimmbessern — To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.
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- Nunchi — The subtle art of reading a room — sensing what people feel, what they need, and what is…