I’d reword it myself. However, I think he’s still capturing the point.

I’d say that happiness isn’t the point. Fulfillment is.

Can you survive without it? Sure. Can you be content? Maybe. But you’ll never know the fullness of what it means to die to yourself and discover life on the other side.

The exceptions you listed didn’t disprove this. They lived it out differently, but they still poured themselves out for something beyond themselves.