What you're saying is "Money won't make you happy, but a lack of it will" which is a more accurate statement that doesn't necessarily contradict the shorter version. And this is what most talk about when using similar lines anyway.
You admit development is where you find joy. You could be doing this broke if you didn't need money, but you do for rent etc. So the first step in happiness is to find how much money you need to be able to forget about it. If your goal is to be able to forget about something, it's certainly not something making you happy. It's what makes you miserable, but only when you lack it.
This makes money like water or electricity. Lack of it would make us miserable. But beyond what we need, we cease to think about it. We practically have infinite water coming from our taps, and more than enough electricity we need. But it's the quenching of thirst, the long baths, the phone charging, the computer that's always on... these are the only things that could possibly make us happy.
Resources don't necessarily make us happy or miserable. They're just enablers.
You admit development is where you find joy. You could be doing this broke if you didn't need money, but you do for rent etc. So the first step in happiness is to find how much money you need to be able to forget about it. If your goal is to be able to forget about something, it's certainly not something making you happy. It's what makes you miserable, but only when you lack it.
This makes money like water or electricity. Lack of it would make us miserable. But beyond what we need, we cease to think about it. We practically have infinite water coming from our taps, and more than enough electricity we need. But it's the quenching of thirst, the long baths, the phone charging, the computer that's always on... these are the only things that could possibly make us happy.
Resources don't necessarily make us happy or miserable. They're just enablers.