Electricity is no longer a luxury; it is a definite necessity.
 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Looking Forward (1933). copy citation

Context

“of the United States needs to be kept very closely under the watchful eye of its parent—the people. But these figures do not measure the human importance of electric power in our present social order. Electricity is no longer a luxury; it is a definite necessity. It lights our homes, our places of work, our streets; it turns the wheels of our transportation and our factories. It can relieve the drudgery of the housewife and lift a great burden from the shoulders of the farmer.” source