Bread is the most important thing that man needs for his existence. But it is not the only thing he needs. He needs much more besides that. He needs beauty, love, knowledge, creativity, entertainment and spiritual activity in order to lead a full, satisfying life. Survival is the basic instinct among all living things including man. Therefore, means of survival is the first and foremost concern of man. He goes about arranging for his bread or food which can make him live. If he does not get food he will starve, suffer from diseases and finally die. The most important activity in man’s life is that of earning his bread. A hungry man is not able to do anything. An underfed man does not have the required strength and stamina to undertake any work. Human relationships degenerate in the absence of food. Man turns into a cruel animal if there is shortage of food. He uses all his might to gather the scarce food. A hungry man may even fight with animals to procure his food.
However, it is not a complete truth that man lives by bread alone. No doubt bread is the most important need of man. But he needs much more besides. As far as procuring, eating and digesting food is concerned, animals too do all this. But then animals are not gifted with thinking power. Therefore, they do not need anything else besides food. It is man alone who has been gifted with the thinking facility. Man has an innate sense of beauty. He appreciates beauty in all terms. Beauty of flowers is a universal phenomenon as people anywhere in the world enjoy the tender beauty of the flowers.
Man has also been endowed with the innate quality of love. He wants to love and be loved in return. There exists love between mother and son/daughter, father and son/daughter, brother and brother/sister love also binds friends to enter into a lasting relationship. Love between lover and beloved has been celebrated from ancient time. Apart from all this, there is in man the love for God. Many a time, a man's love of God has turned him into a saint, who in turn loved humanity at large. All religions tell their followers to practice love, because love has an uplifting quality about it. it motivates people to be generous, kind and selfless. it blesses both the giver and the receiver.
Last but not the least - man's spiritual needs cannot be denied. Physical existence and spiritual existence are the two parts of man's life. While physical existence requires food, the spiritual existence makes him seek answers to the fundamental questions like 'Who am I?', 'Where have I come from?', 'Where shall I go after death?‘ and so on. Meditation, prayer, etc. are some of the ways by which man tallies his spiritual need and seeks God.
Hence, it is clear that apart from bread (food), there is much more that man needs in order to live in the true sense of the word.
