Send a Quote Enter a brief message. SendOk2 “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” ~ William Pitt (1708-1778) 1st Earl of Chatham, English Statesman, OratorSource: Speech, House of Commons, 18 November 1783William Pitt the Elder, in a speech on the India Bill (18 November 1783), reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 550-51; also in Famous Sayings and Their Authors (1906) by Edward Latham, p. 44