100% true. The absence of pain can feel like pleasure for a time. All senses including our emotional sense work by contrast.

Anyone with rich friends knows that money doesn’t buy happiness. I have two friends who retired with $70 million in the bank 10 years ago. They are miserable. They spend money like mad trying to feel happy and it does not work. Meanwhile I work full time and have a fairly good salary for my area and feel happy more often than not.