What has the world designated as enviable? At a certain level of generality， wealth， beauty， power， talent and skill， knowledge and wisdom， and extraordinary good luck come close to completing the list. (I'd add youth， more about which presently.) Some of these items are gifts received at birth; some are acquired at the expense of great effort. In the best of all worlds， one would be rich， beautiful，powerful， laden with talent， wise and learned， and (given the foregoing) obviously hugely fortunate. In the actUal world， one is considered fairly lucky if in possession of any one of these items.