With the expression “vital need”, I mean all that man gets from his own efforts, which from the beginning, or after a long practice, has become so important to human life that few people, if so much, either by savagery, Either poverty, or by philosophy, try to pass without. ** :: Reference :: ** [[Walden]] The greatest need, therefore, for our body, is to conserve heat, to conserve the vital heat within us. ** :: Reference :: ** [[Walden]] Today, and in this country, as I seize from my own experience, a few implements, a knife, an ax, a shovel, a hand cart etc., and for the scholar the lamp, paper and access to some books qualify If almost as vital needs, and they can all be obtained at an derisory cost. ** :: Reference :: ** [[Walden]]