proverb · Words worth keeping
Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying pairs desperate diseases with desperate remedies. As a wider metaphor, an extreme problem is imagined to call for an exceptional response.
What the words are saying
The repeated desperate gives the response the same intensity as the difficulty. A responsible application can examine why ordinary options may seem insufficient without validating a drastic action. The phrase supplies no clinical evidence or treatment, and severity alone does not prove a proposed remedy worthwhile.
Everyday example
A group facing a difficult project considers its options carefully instead of assuming the most drastic response is best.
When to use it
Use it as a qualified problem-and-response metaphor.
What it does not mean
It is not treatment guidance or justification for an unexamined extreme action.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 171; PDF page 29
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.