Daily Inspiration Quote by Glenda Jackson

There is a hard-earned performer-politician’s pragmatism in Jackson’s refusal to “bad-mouth” the opposition: she’s talking about persuasion, not catharsis. The line reads like etiquette, but it’s really stagecraft. An actress knows the quickest way to lose an audience is to look petty; a politician learns the same lesson with voters who may not love your rival, but dislike cruelty even more. Jackson’s phrasing is tellingly modest: “I have never believed” frames the claim as a principle formed over time, not a sanctimonious rule imposed on others. It’s the rhetoric of someone who has watched crowds turn.

The intent is strategic decency. When you attack an opponent’s character, you shift the spotlight from your argument to your temperament. You invite a referendum on tone, not policy. “Make your case stronger” is the key utility measure: politics as a competition for credibility. Smears often feel powerful because they’re simple and emotionally vivid; Jackson is arguing they’re also structurally weak, because they concede you can’t win on the merits.

The subtext carries a quiet rebuke of modern political entertainment, where contempt is marketed as authenticity and “telling it like it is” becomes a license to degrade. Coming from Jackson, whose public life bridged the theatre and Parliament, it suggests a lost discipline: you can play anger without playing ugly. The line is less about being nice than about refusing to grant your opponent the starring role in your story.