Happiness is an emotional or affective state that is characterized by feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction. As a state and a subject, it has been pursued and commented on extensively throughout world history. This reflects the universal importance that humans place on happiness.
In the Nicomachean Ethics, written in 350 B.C.E., Aristotle stated that happiness is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake. He observed that men sought riches not for the sake of being rich, but to be happy. Those who sought fame desired it not to be famous, but because they believed fame would bring them happiness. Aristotle argued that humans seek everything else such as; fish, bread, and children. Many ethicists make arguments for how humans should behave, either individually or collectively, based on the resulting happiness of such behavior. Utilitarians, such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, advocated the greatest happiness principle as a guide for ethical behavior.
States associated with happiness -being, delight, health, safety, contentment, and love. Contrasting states include suffering, depression, grief, anxiety, and pain. Happiness is often associated with the presence of favorable circumstances such as a supportive family life, a loving marriage, and economic stability. Unfavorable circumstances, such as abusive relationships, accidents, loss of employment, and conflicts, diminish the amount of happiness a person experiences. However, according to several ancient and modern thinkers, happiness is influenced by the attitude and perspective taken on such circumstances.
·enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure or good fortune; "a happy smile"; "spent many happy days on the beach"; "a happy marriage"
·felicitous: marked by good fortune; "a felicitous life"; "a happy outcome"
·glad: eagerly disposed to act or to be of service; "glad to help"
·well expressed and to the point; "a happy turn of phrase"; "a few well-chosen words"
Happy is he that is happy in childhood.童年时快乐的人是幸福的。
A happy heart makes a blooming visage.心中快乐，容光焕发。
Happy is he who owes nothing.要想活得痛快，身上不能背债。
Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.
吸取他人教训，自己才会走运。
Happy is he who only desires what he may and does what he ought.
不作非分之想又能尽本分的人是快乐的。
All happy families are like one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
所有幸福的家庭都十分相似；每个不幸的家庭却各有各的不幸。
