Liverous thinking

liver 1 |ˈlivər|nouna large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates, involved in many metabolic processes.• a similar organ in other animals.• the flesh of an animal's liver as food : slices of calf's liver | [as adj. ] liver pâté | chicken livers.• (also liver color) a dark reddish brown.The liver's main role is in the processing of the products of digestion into substances useful to the body. It also neutralizes harmful substances in the blood, secretes bile for the digestion of fats, synthesizes plasma proteins, and stores glycogen and some minerals and vitamins. It was anciently supposed to be the seat of love and violent emotion.ORIGIN Old English lifer, of Germanic origin; related to German Leber, Dutch lever.liver 2 |ˈlɪvər| |ˈlɪvə|noun [with adj. ]a person who lives in a specified way : a clean liver | high livers.
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I was sitting on the tram the other day when I looked up to see the word 'liver' at the bottom of an advertisement.  Maybe it was the position I was sitting in, but it suddenly occurred to me that the word may have risen from the root 'to live.'  And to my delight, I discovered that it did indeed share the same root - from lifer, leber, and lever - 'to lift'.

*A side note of interest - the ancient Chinese believed that the liver was where the human soul lay, whereas in Western society we consider this to be the heart.  An organ of physics versus an organ of processing?  I don't suppose either organ is aethetically or emotionally that pleasing.

**A side note of interest #2 - If the root of the word 'to live' is 'to lift', then is 'to die' 'to fall'?  And if this is the case, then is not living itself already heaven, since we have not yet succumbed to being below the ground?