Happiness is an opportunity of fulfilling desires

Tracing the etymology of the word “happiness”, you will notice a pattern. The Greek word “Eudaimonia” (= happiness) is composed of two words eu (good) and daimon (deity), i.e. literally meant that the destiny of man is under the protection of the gods.
In Rome, the word “happiness” meant the name of the goddess Fortuna. The word “Fortuna” had two meanings – luck and fate. The goddess was depicted with the cornucopia, wheel and a steering oar. That is, she embodied divine grace, which can be given only to the worthy. So the perception of happiness as a category in the Roman Empire was purely practical. It was welfare, the possibility of fulfilling desires, etc.
For the lower strata of society often happiness meant esteticheskoe the unity of the gods, which can grant a better life. Later this attitude is fortunately reflected in the Christian doctrine.
In Russian, the word “happiness” also has several meanings:
1) fate, destiny, lot, share; i.e. to be happy at first was understood as “to be under the mercy of higher powers”,
2) a coincidence, a welcome surprise, success in business, i.e. to be happy, can also mean that a person can be a participant in your own destiny provided for the post by International Adoption research blogger and columnist.
But there is also third option: happiness – prosperity, welfare, peace and contentment; a life without cares and worries – this is a more down-to-earth option, something like “happiness for the poor.”
“Luck” in Russian has several meanings – it is the success case, suddenly successful outcome, as well as the sudden happiness, though the early meaning of the word was obedience, pliability destiny see more at International Adoption channel news. That is, in the Russian language the words “luck” and “happiness” over time become synonymous and mean about the same as before – being under the patronage of some higher power. But, how many people, so many opinions, so you can select some of the most common views on happiness.

Divergence in the abilities and behavior

Recall that in the twentieth century, a similar experiment was done repeatedly. One family even anthropologists took the baby monkey, which was born simultaneously with her child, and raised him as my own child. Up to two and a half years everything was seemingly the same, but with three years - a sharp divergence in the abilities and behavior. A human child has evolved as a person, but the little monkey was not able to become Mowgli in the human world.
"What soul!?" -cried about the "little Parisian trained" opponents. In the question about the soul of La mettrie materialistically ruthless. "The soul is devoid of content, the term, which was not based on any ideas. Sanity, can use the term soul to refer only to the part of the body which thinks, that is the brain", answered critics of the great philosopher.
This, of course, an exaggeration. Historians of philosophy and science repeatedly discussed the treatise of La mettrie the human-machine. Many thinkers came to the conclusion that in man it is better to use a dialectical notion of the organic whole, in which there are new relations missing from the mechanism.
However, of La mettrie correctly noted that a living organism makes involuntary movement automatically without any action of the soul. He told me about it as always fun...

     One drunken soldier sword blow Osiek head Indian cock. Cock remained on his feet, then walked and ran; stumbling against the wall, he turned, flapped his wings and continued to run and finally fell. The muscles of his when he was already lying on the ground continued to move.
     I've seen it all himself.

So, we have seen that of La mettrie makes the most determined materialist (although not mechanistic) conclusions only as a result of many physical observations. "What value can have against such a strong and sturdy oak of the weak hand of divinity, metaphysics and the various schools of thought?" - he writes. This is baby toys, similar to the rapier of our gyms, which you can use to pleasure yourself to frolic, but in any case not to defeat the enemy.
Its Creator somewhat monotonous echoes and exhibit our Cabinet of curiosities, the famous man-machine...

     Break the chain hung over you prejudices: arm yourself with the torch of experience, and you'll do nature a well-deserved honor. Only open your eyes and leave aside all that you cannot understand.

HAPPINESS AS good LUCK

There is an opinion that people can build their happiness. This is often mentioned to us the proverb: "the Man himself is the architect of his own happiness", "Happiness under the callus lies", "Happiness is not in your wallet, happiness is in your hands".
However, a more widespread view of happiness as luck, random luck, and it suggests that happiness does not depends on the person. Refer to the thought of Aristotle.
"The crowd thinks that the happy life is life lucky or not without success; and she is probably right, because without external goods, which are sent by random luck, you can't be happy. No one can say that randomness is the nature. There, where nature is the cause of something, every time she produces mostly the same, the coincidence is not so, but randomly, haphazardly, and why it is spoken about the case in relation to these things. Not say that randomness is something like a mind or correct reasoning, because in them is no less orderliness, and immutability, but not the case. Maybe random luck is some concern the gods? Or, perhaps, you must not think that? God, we recognize that mastery over such things and distributes good and evil according to merit; however, an accident resulting from chance encounter truly a coincidence. If we suppose that God distributes randomly, then acknowledge his wrong or unjust judge. And this God is not customary." (Aristotle. Vol. in 4 vols. Vol. 4. - M., 1984. - P. 359). Reflecting on this, Aristotle drew attention to the fact that neither fair nor brave, virtuous or anyone else not called lucky, since justice and courage, like any virtue, depend on the efforts of the man himself. Thus, the word "successful" has many meanings: we are called fortunate who, contrary to his calculations had a chance to do something good, and who instead of the expected loss a profit.
"So, the luck is that we get good, how did not expect, and not being evil, what was waiting. Thus to obtain the good characteristic of random luck to get something good is a Fluke in its purest form; not to be subjected to the same evil - happy previtamin. Random luck, thus is the nature of acting thoughtless." (Aristotle. Vol. in 4 vols. Vol. 4. - M., 1984. - P. 359).
From this good luck must be distinguished another, more closely connected with happiness, "at which the man laid by the original impulse to the benefits". (Aristotle. Vol. in 4 vols. Vol. 4. - M., 1984. - P. 359).
Coincidences in our life, there are many, and they are different. There are numerous circumstances proving favourable. They make our life more happy and joyful, and to use them "perfect and upright". (Aristotle. Vol. in 4 vols. Vol. 4. - M., 1984. - P. 71). Such eventualities are identified with many luck, happiness as such. But in life often happen, on the contrary, adverse events that constrain and overshadow our lives, bringing suffering or sorrow. Therefore, you can make quite a bold conclusion: randomness in pure form, are pleasing or overshadow us, have on the lifetime of the average person is quite little impact.
That "smile of destiny" or luck, by themselves, do not constitute happiness, is confirmed by the psychological fact that not everyone who was "lucky" (a remarkable impersonal form of the verb used here), going through what happened as happiness. Meanwhile the experience, the feeling of happiness is essential last. Happiness is such, if it is perceived with all the soul of man as something bright and comprehensive. That is, it fills all of the space, making the experience a higher octave of joy, leaving the person not only filled pleasure, but also inducing them to radiate around the vibration of joy and goodness.