MyDepressionList

Happiness is, in principle, a subjective thing. For some, achieving it requires fame, wealth, good looks, a great body, and an ideal relationship with a suitable partner (love, etc.), while for others, it's enough to down a bottle of vodka in the evening, ignoring the pain in their failing liver, and lie down next to a pathetic drunk or a mentally unstable convict covered in tattoos, who is ready to beat up both the "second half" and their offspring (well, for some, happiness is having their own personal army of children).

Well... I think many will agree with you, but not me. The examples are good, by the way, but they don't speak to the subjectivity of happiness, but rather the opposite – that it is a more complex and fundamental concept than satisfying one's own needs. And we need to look for other differences between a rich but unhappy person and a poor alcoholic with an army of children – unless the latter is truly happy, and not one of those who secretly and openly hates the whole world, and alcohol is just a way to quickly escape from reality, avoiding contact with his hated wife and children (and for some reason, the latter picture seems more realistic, but anything can happen, so who knows?).