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Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady, and measured, and well-informed.
Michelle Obama
- Born
- 1964
- Occupations
- lawyer, writer, politician
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
'When they go low, we go high' entered the language live, from her 2016 Democratic convention speech -- and unusually for a modern quote page, nearly everything Michelle Obama is quoted as saying exists on video and in official transcript. The misquote risk here is not fabrication but trimming: the 'go high' line is usually lifted without the sentence about cruelty and bullying that sets it up, which is on this page in full.
No, this election, and every election, is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives.
Michelle Obama
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.
Michelle Obama
With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models.
Michelle Obama