Need:
1. A condition or situation in which something is required: crops in need of water; a need for affection.
2. Something required or wanted; a requisite: “Those of us who led the charge for these women’s issues… shared a common vision in the needs of women” (Olympia Snowe).
Necessity; obligation: There is no need for you to go.
3. A condition of poverty or misfortune: The family is in dire need.
want
1. To desire greatly; wish for: They want to leave. She wants a glass of water. See Synonyms at desire.
2. To desire (someone to do something): I want you to clean your room.
Now as you can clearly see, need implies a necessity that one cannot live without, whereas want is the everyday material desire. I’d just like to tell you guys, don’t buy something just because you want it. First think about if you need it- it’ll save you a lot of money in the long run. And if you want to spend all that money, then go ahead, but think about the others in this world who need.
A little obvious, but two points for the effort : )
I disagree, they are nearly one and the same. You want a glass of water because you are thirsty. Not drinking water will cause you to die. You want to live, therefore you need water. Desires are a result of necessesity and vice-versa. Notice #2 on need “2. Something required or wanted;”. Which word to use is a matter of mere preference. Saying “I want water” implies your thirst isn’t great enough to say “I need water”. Essentially, no one needs anything, but we all (or most of us) want(not need) to live and thus a needs arise from this(the need to eat, drink etc…). Blah blah blah, I’m bored
Johann, you “need” a glass of water if you are thirsty. You don’t want one. Logically, your first statement is faulty.
If I didn’t want one why would I drink one then?
Needing is wanting, but wanting isn’t necessarily needing.
I think Chris fully summarized Neil’s argument.