Punditry is like weather forecasting: the winds can shift without warning. I remember when nobody would bet a McDonald's Quarter Pounder that Bill Clinton would win the White House.
James CarvilleRead
Don't get mad. Don't get even. Just get elected, then get even.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on winning rather than seeking revenge.
James Carville's quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining composure and professionalism in the face of adversity, particularly in politics. Instead of reacting with anger or seeking retribution, he suggests that one should strive for success and use that power to create change once in a position of authority.
Themes
PoliticsSuccessElectionRevengeComposure
In practice
Example use cases
In a campaign speech, a politician might use this quote to motivate supporters to focus on winning.
More from James Carville
All quotes βOver the course of history, governments, political regimes, and leaders have done some stupid things despite all arguments to the contrary, at times even against their own self-interest.
James CarvilleRead
I tell my students that the single most powerful thing that we have in this country - something that literally harbors no dissent and no questioning - is the all-powerful elite narrative.
James CarvilleRead
I have people ask me if I'm going to convince my daughters to be Democrats, and I say, 'I have yet to convince my daughters to close a door.' I don't how in the world I would ever convince them to be in a political affiliation.
James CarvilleRead
I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the President or the Pope or as a 400 basball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.
James CarvilleRead
We say there are people who have worked in campaigns who say that they have lost some - and we call those folks operatives, managers, strategists, consultants; and then there are people who work in campaigns and say that they have never lost, and we call them liars.
James CarvilleRead
Similar quotes
Election days come and go. But the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one percent - a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice - that struggle continues.
Bernie SandersRead
If economic progress is not translated into better quality of life and respect for citizens' rights, we will witness more Tahrir Squares in Africa.
Mo IbrahimRead
'Scandal' has always lived in this dark place with this idea that Washington is filled with this underbelly of monsters, that if the real world understood how dark, twisted and corrupt it really was, they would never agree with our government or want to be part of it. It's been kind of fun to live in that world. It felt like a fictional world.
Shonda RhimesRead
At least from a national security standpoint, none of the problems the U.S. and U.K. face will become easier to solve if the U.K. is out of the E.U.; on the contrary, I fear that a 'Brexit' would only make our world even more dangerous and difficult to manage.
David PetraeusRead
Where I think historians can help preserve and actually restore democracy is to remind us of how we got it.
Stacey AbramsRead
By their subjugation of the press, the political powers in America have conferred on themselves the greatest of political blessings -- Gyges' ring of invisibility. And they have left the American people more deeply baffled by their own country's politics than any people on earth. Our public realm lies steeped in twilight, and we call that twilight news.'
Walter KarpRead