“What is the strongest? Necessity, for it masters everything.”
— Thales of MiletusReported in Diogenes Laertius 1.35; approximate English rendering
Commentary
This answer, attributed to Thales among the traditional sayings of the Seven Sages, presents necessity as the force that governs all things, including human choice. The idea that necessity overrules even the strongest agents is a familiar Greek theme, and its association with Thales reflects a view of the cosmos as ordered by an inexorable law. A. A. Long notes that the sayings of the sages often took the form of short definitions of abstract qualities, and that this one belongs to that genre. G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield treat the saying as a reflection of later moral and cosmological concerns rather than a securely early doctrine. Charles Kahn suggests that the Milesian conception of balance and order in nature may underlie the idea of necessity, though the saying does not spell this out. Jonathan Barnes cautions that the wording is likely a Hellenistic formulation. The sentiment is consistent with a broader Greek interest in fate and law, and the English is an approximation of a short Greek reply, so it should be checked before quotation.
Commentary
This answer, attributed to Thales among the traditional sayings of the Seven Sages, presents necessity as the force that governs all things, including human choice. The idea that necessity overrules even the strongest agents is a familiar Greek theme, and its association with Thales reflects a view of the cosmos as ordered by an inexorable law. A. A. Long notes that the sayings of the sages often took the form of short definitions of abstract qualities, and that this one belongs to that genre. G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield treat the saying as a reflection of later moral and cosmological concerns rather than a securely early doctrine. Charles Kahn suggests that the Milesian conception of balance and order in nature may underlie the idea of necessity, though the saying does not spell this out. Jonathan Barnes cautions that the wording is likely a Hellenistic formulation. The sentiment is consistent with a broader Greek interest in fate and law, and the English is an approximation of a short Greek reply, so it should be checked before quotation.