--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You should never even ask if a campaign…" description: "\"You should never even ask if a campaign is winnable, because the question is not answerable. No-one can predict the course of the future. Time and time..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/elizabeth-may-2556_asks_you-should-never-even-ask-if-a-campaign_1915435.jpg" --- # You should never even ask if a campaign is winnable… ![“You should never even ask if a campaign is winnable, because the question is not answerable. No-one can predict the course of the future. Time and time again I have seen completely unforeseeable shifts in the tide of events that result in campaign victory.” quote by Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/elizabeth-may-2556_asks_you-should-never-even-ask-if-a-campaign_1915435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/elizabeth-may-2556_asks_you-should-never-even-ask-if-a-campaign_1915435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/elizabeth-may-2556_asks_you-should-never-even-ask-if-a-campaign_1915435.jpg) > “You should never even ask if a campaign is winnable, because the question is not answerable. No-one can predict the course of the future. Time and time again I have seen completely unforeseeable shifts in the tide of events that result in campaign victory.” [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Campaign outcomes are inherently unpredictable; focusing on winnability limits strategic flexibility. **In simple terms:** Future results are unknowable; stay adaptable. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and adapt strategies. Themes uncertainty strategy politics campaigns adaptability Mood pragmatic hopeful strategic Type political inspirational When to use this quote - election cycles - policy advocacy - grassroots organizing - media strategy Key Concepts Predictive limits flexible planning Questions to Reflect On - How can you prepare for unexpected shifts? - What metrics guide decisions without predicting outcomes? A Different Perspective Relying on predictions can cause missed opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Campaign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/campaign/) [Campaign Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/campaign-victory-2909803/) [Campaign Winnable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/campaign-winnable-2909801/) [Campaigns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/campaigns/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Future time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-time/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Result Campaign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/result-campaign-2909804/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Tides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tides/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) [Winnable Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winnable-question-2909802/) ## Related quotes > [Barack Obama won a second term but no mandate. Thanks in part to his own small-bore and brutish campaign, victory guarantees the president nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/barack-obama-won-a-second-term-but-no-mandate-thanks-in-part-to-his/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [“Asa had a sharp understanding of the future--that is, a time when this would be past. Time was rushing through and around him, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-kaysen/asa-had-a-sharp-understanding-of-the-future-that-is-a-time-when-this/) [Susanna Kaysen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-kaysen/) > [What seems to us serious, significant and important will, in future times, be forgotten or won't seem important at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/what-seems-to-us-serious-significant-and-important-will-in-future/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Do not merely think that you are great; think that you are great now. Do not think that you will begin to act in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/do-not-merely-think-that-you-are-great-think-that-you-are-great-now/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [I traveled into the future to get back in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-traveled-into-the-future-to-get-back-in-time/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [“I glimpse in the distance certain roads, clearings slient in the morning after the night's demons have fled:the future, the ageless future, where there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sachs/i-glimpse-in-the-distance-certain-roads-clearings-slient-in-the/) [Maurice Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sachs/) > [“Today can be tomorrow with the possibility of changing the past or the future, if time stood still. Always be momentous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-heron/today-can-be-tomorrow-with-the-possibility-of-changing-the-past-or/) [Matthew Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-heron/) > [Peace will come soon to stay, and so come as to be worth keeping in all future time. It will then have proved that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/peace-will-come-soon-to-stay-and-so-come-as-to-be-worth-keeping-in/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The future is that time when you will wish you had done what you are not doing now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/the-future-is-that-time-when-you-will-wish-you-had-done-what-you-are/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [But to understand the future, we have to go back in time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/men-in-black/but-to-understand-the-future-we-have-to-go-back-in-time/) [Men In Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/men-in-black/) > [“I glimpse in the distance certain roads, clearings silent in the morning after the night's demonds have fled: the future, the ageless future, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sachs/i-glimpse-in-the-distance-certain-roads-clearings-silent-in-the/) [Maurice Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sachs/) > [You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/you-may-forget-but-let-me-tell-you-this-someone-in-some-future-time/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [Arriving someplace more desirable at some future time is an illusion. This is it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/arriving-someplace-more-desirable-at-some-future-time-is-an-illusion/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [To me... it appears that there have been differences of opinion and party differences, from the first establishment of government to the present day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/to-me-it-appears-that-there-have-been-differences-of-opinion-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [To converse at the distance of the Indes by means of sympathetic contrivances may be as natural to future times as to us is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-glanvill/to-converse-at-the-distance-of-the-indes-by-means-of-sympathetic/) [Joseph Glanvill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-glanvill/) ## More by Elizabeth May > [The movement across Canada to fight toxic chemicals is a women's movement. It's a concern about health; it's very intimate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/the-movement-across-canada-to-fight-toxic-chemicals-is-a-women-s/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [We have an existential crisis, which is the climate crisis. Canada is one of the laggards in the industrialized world. Our record is terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/we-have-an-existential-crisis-which-is-the-climate-crisis-canada-is/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [“My ears are bleeding. I have a nasty headache. I'm trapped in a room with a murderous faery and I blame you." "That's fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/my-ears-are-bleeding-i-have-a-nasty-headache-i-m-trapped-in-a-room/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [“Stick by me,” Daniel says to Gavin. “Don’t do anything bloody stupid, all right? Not like last time.” “You know me, old chap,” Gavin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/stick-by-me-daniel-says-to-gavin-don-t-do-anything-bloody-stupid-all/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [“I know the power names hold better than anyone. 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I don't have that uncertainty." - Kiaran”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/i-m-immortal-you-consider-the-future-because-one-day-you-ll-die-i-don/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [“I've changed my mind. Stop inadequately playing human," I say. "Drop her hand and step away. Take a very big step.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/i-ve-changed-my-mind-stop-inadequately-playing-human-i-say-drop-her/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [My funny speech wasn't funny. That's not the first time a politician has done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/my-funny-speech-wasn-t-funny-that-s-not-the-first-time-a-politician/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [If one group of people say a woman has a right to choose, I get queasy because I'm against abortion. 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