I'm an atheist but I quite like Buddism...

[Angrboda]

Part of his analysis of the human condition was to separate joy and pleasure. In neurochemistry, these are responses to serotonin (joy) and dopamine (pleasure). We get pleasure from getting things, like winning, or eating a big meal, etc, but pleasure is inherently addictive. After we feel it, it's gone and leaves a need for more, in an endless cycle. This is 'attachment'. Most people struggle with attachment and desire for material things, but there is also attachment to ideas and the sense of self. The point is, this pursuit doesn't lead to that contentment and joy, in fact, it obscures it. Joy comes from being a good person and living a good life. When you remember joy, you feel it again, when you remember pleasure, you feel the lack.

This is bogus. Neurochemistry doesn't work like this. Both serotonin and dopamine are involved in many different systems and it's not a simple linear response that serotonin leads to joy, or dopamine results in pleasure.