michelle obama when they go low
Michelle Obama’s famous line “When they go low, we go high” comes from her 2016 Democratic National Convention speech, and it has since become her signature motto about taking the moral high road in politics and public life.
What the phrase means
- She first used the line while campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2016, saying: “When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is: ‘When they go low, we go high’.”
- The idea is: don’t respond to insults, bullying, or dirty tactics with more of the same; instead, act with integrity, discipline, and long‑term vision.
How Michelle Obama explains it now
In later interviews, including one with Stephen Colbert, she clarified that “going high” does not mean being soft or passive.
- She said going high is “not losing the urgency or the passion or the rage, especially when you are justified in it.”
- For her, “going high means finding the purpose in your rage” and turning anger into constructive action instead of just more chaos.
- She also argued that “going low is unsustainable” and might feel like a quick fix but “doesn’t fix anything over the long term.”
Why the line went viral
- The phrase stood out because it is short, rhythmic, and built on contrast (“low” vs. “high”), a classic rhetorical device called antithesis.
- Commentators have called it one of the most quoted political lines of the decade, and it is still cited in discussions about civility and political strategy years later.
How it’s evolved in politics
- Michelle Obama has repeatedly reaffirmed the motto in later speeches, including at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, where she warned that if “we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise.”
- At the same time, some political writers and activists now debate whether “going high” is effective against harsh, norm‑breaking opponents, which has led to commentary about her updating or sharpening the philosophy in light of recent elections.
Quick FAQ style nuggets
- Who said “When they go low, we go high”? Michelle Obama, at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
- What did she mean? Don’t respond to cruelty or bullying by lowering yourself; respond with principle, focus, and constructive action.
- Is she still for it? Yes, but she emphasizes that “going high” can still be fierce, strategic, and full of justified emotion.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.