Quotes / Tough Love

"This is the whip of love."

— Shigure, before throwing Kenichi into a training machine that would look more in place in a Saw movie, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

"She's poisoned my breakfast and dinner, she keeps hiding behind doors and attacking me when I open them, and this morning she threw a snake at me."

— Jack Cannon, on his mother, The Fancy Adventures of Jack Cannon

"He's teaching prepubescent kids that truth matters, God doesn't, and life sucks. I like him.

— Gregory House, House

Short of her refusal to deal permanent injury or kill him, she barred no holds, showed no mercy, offered little kindness, if any. There wasn’t a thought to his morale, to the fact that she was systematically, methodically destroying the confidence he was building up. No. Not heartless, not wholly inconsiderate. She tore him down because she trusted him to pull himself back together, to rebuild that lost confidence and redouble his efforts. Nevertheless, this was one of those moments where he found himself hating her a little. His fondness for her shrunk a fraction. He felt, even though he’d asked for this, the slightest sense of betrayal. Nothing Tecton had said was new. He knew this stuff. Knew that walking down this road and continuing this training was going to hurt things between himself and Weaver in the long run. Somewhere along the line, their friendship would suffer. They’d dial up the seriousness of what they were doing, focus more on business than friendship. He knew. She knew.

— Golem, Worm

To let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong, and refrain from principled argument because he is an old acquaintance, a fellow townsman, a schoolmate, a close friend, a loved one, an old colleague or old subordinate. Or to touch on the matter lightly instead of going into it thoroughly, so as to keep on good terms. The result is that both the organization and the individual are harmed.

— Mao Zedong, "Combat Liberalism"

You keep on persevering if you’re not dead,

you can’t wait for the cheering just to get out of bed.

You learn from all the shit that hurts you instead

and never let it all get over your head.

— "Get Over It", by Matthew Patel

"I know ya ain't fond of our little chats, but I'm doin' it for you, kid. That's how much this mole cares. Face it, if I didn't care, I'd just show up, hack out a word or two like it was no big deal, and leave..."

— Mr. Resetti, Animal Crossing

Baloo: A man's cub is a man's cub, and he must learn all the Law of the Jungle.

Bagheera: But think how small he is. How can his little head carry all thy long talk?

Baloo: Is there anything in the jungle too little to be killed? No. That is why I teach him these things, and that is why I hit him, very softly, when he forgets.

Bagheera: Softly! What dost thou know of softness, old Iron-feet? His face is all bruised today by thy...softness. Ugh.

Baloo: Better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance.

—The Jungle Book: Kaa's Hunting

Koffie: But... I don't understand. How can she say she loves you when her actions clearly prove otherwise...? I am very confused.

Absent: Because HP's mother is a hypocritical psycho.

Koffie: She doesn't seem like one...

oghond: It's sarcasm, Koffie. Look, there are times when tough love works and times when it doesn't.

Koffie: This kind of thing works?! I don't understand... how can it work if it's so unusually contradictory?

— SOSchip, "Family Matters," on HP's mother (the following lines were not in the original chapter; but will be in the web series as an added scene)

Carlton: (to Hilary and Ashley) Look, I think I know how to help Will. This calls for tough love. We've gotta draw him out, we've gotta bait him, confront him, attack him, until he defends himself. Only then will he start to feel better.
Hilary: I don't know, Carlton...
Carlton: Look, just follow my lead.
(The three go up to Will, who is despondently eating strawberries. Carlton points accusingly at Will.)
Carlton: Will, you should be ashamed of yourself!!
Ashley: How could you do such a thing?!
Hilary: I hope you never get mad at me!
(Beat; Will suddenly breaks down into tears)
Will: WHY Y'ALL SCREAMING AT ME?? I WAS MINDIN' MY DAMN BUSINESS EATING SOME FRUIT!! (leaves the room crying)
Carlton: ...Well, I could be wrong....

— The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, "Asses to Ashes"^*the Banks siblings' failed attempt to make Will feel better after Will feels responsible for the death of Uncle Phil's political opponent in the run for district court judge.

Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.

—Time Enough for Love

This beautiful city will only ever be run by the greatest men! That's why I'm trying to prevent my son from becoming a loser, a loner, a useless selfish boy! If I don't raise him right he will never make anything of himself and he will absolutely NEVER stand up to the task that is running Ravena! He needs to learn discipline!

—Mayor James P. Ravena, The Brains And The Brawn

Kitty: Red, why do you have to be so hard on him?
Red: Same reason my old man was hard on me: to prepare me for the world. You know, Kitty, when I was his age... I could have parachuted onto a deserted island... with nothing but a Swiss army knife, and I would've survived.
Kitty: Okay, then we've learned something. No skydiving for Eric.
Red: I'll tell you, Kitty, the world is a tough place. You drop your guard for one second... and it'll kick you right in the ass.

— That '70s Show, "Stolen Car"

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