--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sadness is just happiness turned on its…" description: "\"“Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all showbiz!”\" — Guy Maddin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg" --- # Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all… ![“Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all showbiz!” quote by Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg) > ““Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all showbiz!”” [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sadness is essentially happiness inverted, often performed like a spectacle. **In simple terms:** Sadness is just upside‑down happiness, like a show. Key Takeaway Recognize emotional reversals in art and life. Themes emotion perception performance art psychology Mood playful ironic Type philosophical humorous When to use this quote - film analysis - theatre - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts cognitive inversion emotional expression Questions to Reflect On - What does “turned on its ass” imply about authenticity? - How does performance shape our experience of sadness? A Different Perspective Emotional labeling can oversimplify complex feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Screenplay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/screenplay/) ## Related quotes > [“She’d thought love had something to do with happiness, but it turned out they were not even vaguely related.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/she-d-thought-love-had-something-to-do-with-happiness-but-it-turned/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [Ive just realized that all the laughs and happiness, when turned into memories will soon transform into TEARS¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cutymims/ive-just-realized-that-all-the-laughs-and-happiness-when-turned-into/) Cutymims > [Life is too short for enjoy R damm long period for sadness. Its just becoz we thing :-\|](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meh-lol/life-is-too-short-for-enjoy-r-damm-long-period-for-sadness-its-just/) Meh Lol > [Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/just-do-what-must-be-done-this-may-not-be-happiness-but-it-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Don't define happiness, just be happiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-define-happiness-just-be-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If it (the good circumstances) changes will you be able to keep onto your happiness just as much? Because if not then your happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goswami-kriyananda/if-it-the-good-circumstances-changes-will-you-be-able-to-keep-onto/) [Goswami Kriyananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goswami-kriyananda/) > [Success is just happiness. When you are happy, that is success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/success-is-just-happiness-when-you-are-happy-that-is-success/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [“My sadness is beautiful. It infuses everything I do. It is at the core of my identity and always has been, just as happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashly-lorenzana/my-sadness-is-beautiful-it-infuses-everything-i-do-it-is-at-the-core/) [Ashly Lorenzana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashly-lorenzana/) > [Sometimes you just want to go out and tell everybody everything because you're just so full of happiness. It's almost like you're high on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noomi-rapace/sometimes-you-just-want-to-go-out-and-tell-everybody-everything/) [Noomi Rapace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noomi-rapace/) > [Sometimes you just have to give up your happiness especially when it was never really yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-just-have-to-give-up-your-happiness-especially-when-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't care what people gonna think of you, do what you wanna do and seek just your happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/don-t-care-what-people-gonna-think-of-you-do-what-you-wanna-do-and/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [I didn't want Sadness to be just one note.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-smith/i-didn-t-want-sadness-to-be-just-one-note/) [Phyllis Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-smith/) > [I write a lot of material you've never heard that live inside my sadness. You'll hear a song that lasts six to seven minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-write-a-lot-of-material-you-ve-never-heard-that-live-inside-my/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [Put your big girl pants on and move on. Seventy-two hours is an appropriate time. After that you start to smell and your friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-love-hewitt/put-your-big-girl-pants-on-and-move-on-seventy-two-hours-is-an/) [Jennifer Love Hewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-love-hewitt/) > [Sadness is just an outcome of expectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cath-chatto/sadness-is-just-an-outcome-of-expectation/) [Cath Chatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cath-chatto/) ## More by Guy Maddin > [I was too lazy to read, and I was even too lazy to imagine scenarios drawn up by the pictures. They just suggested a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/i-was-too-lazy-to-read-and-i-was-even-too-lazy-to-imagine-scenarios/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [I probably live in the best province for independent filmmakers. Manitoba has a sort of thieving-magpie approach, trying to lift productions from other provinces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/i-probably-live-in-the-best-province-for-independent-filmmakers/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [Whenever you take a subject you're obsessed with or that haunts you, and make a movie about it, you're converting it into work units…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/whenever-you-take-a-subject-you-re-obsessed-with-or-that-haunts-you/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [I've been so lazy all my life. I used to literally lie on the couch, up until the age of 35, fearing that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/i-ve-been-so-lazy-all-my-life-i-used-to-literally-lie-on-the-couch-up/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [The Forbidden Room and Seances are related. Both of them are made up of lost film matter adapted through the medium of me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/the-forbidden-room-and-seances-are-related-both-of-them-are-made-up/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [Well, I had a wolverine. It was supposed to be a cat, but Jason (Patric) is allergic to cats. I can't remember where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/well-i-had-a-wolverine-it-was-supposed-to-be-a-cat-but-jason-patric/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [I literally designed and built the sets myself, and I kind of liked it. 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I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/if-i-feel-like-crying-i-ll-just-cry-in-a-dream-something-i-really-try/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [I like the way we get to be uninhibited in our dreams, we don't' need to repress our behaviours like we do in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/i-like-the-way-we-get-to-be-uninhibited-in-our-dreams-we-don-t-need/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) > [Some Jungian or Freudian would tell me I'm just trying to go back to the womb... at gunpoint, if necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/some-jungian-or-freudian-would-tell-me-i-m-just-trying-to-go-back-to/) [Guy Maddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) [Explore all 55 Guy Maddin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all showbiz!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Guy Maddin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its-ass-it-s-all-showbiz/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its-ass-it-s-all-showbiz/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/guy-maddin-12338_happiness_sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its_2379135.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it's all showbiz!” — Guy Maddin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Guy Maddin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-maddin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Sadness is just happiness turned on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its-ass-it-s-all-showbiz/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-maddin/sadness-is-just-happiness-turned-on-its-ass-it-s-all-showbiz/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```