September 20, 2025

Never lose your temper with the Press or the public is a major rule of political life.

Christabel Pankhurst (1880–1958), English suffragette, Unshackled (1959), Jay p.284

Have you ever lost it? Did you consider simply smiling and moving on? Better than looking guilty and walking away, don’t you think?

The public is often impressed by genuine passion for some cause or another, but a politician whose passion is expressed with the loss of temper suggests someone out of control, and that leaves a horrible impression. For female politicians, it amounts to professional suicide.