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"HAPPINESS," AS IT IS GENERALLY CONCEIVED—AS A CONTINUOUS or long-lasting state, and as the ultimate fulfillment of deepseated longings, starting with childhood wishes and fantasies—is an illusion. It cannot be reached, not even with extreme effort and sophisticated guidelines. On the other hand, man is fortunate if he occasionally experiences subjective, very personal, and relatively brief "feelings of happiness" with extraordinarily heightened pleasure and harmonious contentment.
The quest for happiness must have begun when the sojourn of Adam and Eve in Paradise was ended. They were evicted forever, their return prevented by two seraphim guarding the entrance with flaming swords. They had to leave their abode of heavenly bliss because knowledge had grown in their minds and had made them see reality in the nakedness of its manifold aspects. Paradoxically, great thinkers through the years have developed various ingenious ideas concerning ways in which man might find his way back to the Garden of Eden with the help of knowledge. However, all their efforts could neither remove the flaming barriers nor open the gates to the felicity of Paradise.
Inspired by their belief that the gods dwelled in the heavens, the ancients tried to build the Tower of Babel. Totally disregarding reality, they expected that it would enable them to ascend to the celestial abode. They failed. Confused by the multitude and variety of their languages, they misunderstood one another. Discords tore them apart, and erroneous concepts destroyed their labors. Philosophers of all times went astray in the same way. The