Quotes / Happiness Is Mandatory

"Are you happy? It's your duty! Are you fulfilling it?
If you're not happy, there's...

Hanging, beheading, firing squad, boiling, drowning, electrocution,
Immolation, live burial, lethal injection, stoning, sawing, crucifixion,
Take your pick! ♪

Okay then!
All right everyone, aren't you all just brimming with happiness!
Not a hint of anxiety or discontent, right?"

— Utata-P, "This is happiness and peace of mind committee."

Ned Flanders: Hidely-ho, slaverinos!
Simpsons Family: Okily-dokily.
Homer: Hey, what the hell is that geek Flanders doing on TV?
[alarm sounds]
Flanders: I see by the big board we got a negative Nellie in sector two. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the whole family to kinda freeze, and prepare for re-neducation.
Bart: Don't you remember, Dad? Flanders is the unquestioned lord and master of the world.
Homer: D'oh!

— The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror V" story "Time and Punishment"

"Dancing is mandatory. Fun is optional. I am willing to alter these terms."

—Froghand, from The First Quarterly Froge Ball.

"Putting students on notice that their attitudes had better damn well be positive tells us less about what makes for an optimal learning environment than it does about the needs (if not neediness) of the person who sends this message. Kids don’t require a classroom that’s relentlessly upbeat; they require a place where they’ll feel safe to express whatever they’re feeling, even if at the moment that happens to be sad or angry or scared. They need a place, in other words, where negativity is allowed. Bad feelings don’t vanish in an environment of mandatory cheer — they just get swept under the rug where people end up tripping over them, so to speak. What you or I may describe as a negative attitude, meanwhile, may be an entirely appropriate response to an unfair rule, an intimidating climate, or a task that seems pointless or impossible. To exclude such responses from students is to refuse to think seriously about what may have given rise to their negativity."

—Alfie Kohn, "Bad Signs"

"Long live Stalin, he loves you
Sing these words, or you know what he'll do!"

—Pig with the Face of a Boy, "Complete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris"

"Hah," said Granny. "Yes. Of course. There's always got to be" —she spat the words— "a happy ending."

—Witches Abroad

Hope will never be a problem again.

—Frostpunk, New Order/Faith law

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

—quote of uncertain origin, but gained popularity by the 2010s. Even The Other Wiki isn't sure where it comes from.

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