--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It turns out that there is nothing so…" description: "\"It turns out that there is nothing so 'ex' as an ex-politician, especially a defeated one. Your phone goes dead.\" — Michael Ignatieff" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/michael-ignatieff-3146_dead_it-turns-out-that-there-is-nothing-so-ex_2320185.jpg" --- # It turns out that there is nothing so 'ex' as an… ![“It turns out that there is nothing so 'ex' as an ex-politician, especially a defeated one. Your phone goes dead.” quote by Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/michael-ignatieff-3146_dead_it-turns-out-that-there-is-nothing-so-ex_2320185.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/michael-ignatieff-3146_dead_it-turns-out-that-there-is-nothing-so-ex_2320185.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/michael-ignatieff-3146_dead_it-turns-out-that-there-is-nothing-so-ex_2320185.jpg) > “It turns out that there is nothing so 'ex' as an ex-politician, especially a defeated one. Your phone goes dead.” [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Former politicians, especially defeated ones, become irrelevant, likened to a dead phone—no power, no connection. **In simple terms:** Ex‑politicians often lose influence, becoming like dead phones. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of political power after defeat. Themes politics power obsolescence Mood critical reflective Type commentary philosophical When to use this quote - post‑political careers - public speaking - media analysis - personal reinvention Key Concepts sociology psychology career transition Questions to Reflect On - What can a former politician do to stay relevant? - How does defeat reshape personal identity? A Different Perspective May ignore the value of experience and networks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated/) [Defeated Phone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated-phone-5543812/) [Ex Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ex-politician-5543811/) [Goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes/) [Goes Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-dead-2249629/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Phone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone/) [Phone Goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone-goes-947569/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Turns Ex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns-ex-3798081/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [I think she should shut it down before it turns into 'Ex in the city'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pretty-little-liars/i-think-she-should-shut-it-down-before-it-turns-into-ex-in-the-city/) [Pretty Little Liars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pretty-little-liars/) > [Nothing could bother me more than the way a thing goes dead once it has been said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/nothing-could-bother-me-more-than-the-way-a-thing-goes-dead-once-it/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“And at times the fact of her absence will hit you like a blow to the chest, and you will weep. But this will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/and-at-times-the-fact-of-her-absence-will-hit-you-like-a-blow-to-the/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Immortality goes through dead before all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/immortality-goes-through-dead-before-all/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [That awkward moment, when your phone goes off, when yournot suppose to have it on, or with you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syoung/that-awkward-moment-when-your-phone-goes-off-when-yournot-suppose-to/) [Syoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syoung/) > [So my phone goes off in class, good thing I have the same ringtone as the teacher… hehehehe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-my-phone-goes-off-in-class-good-thing-i-have-the-same-ringtone-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I need to stop feeling bad for not talking to people I was once close to. The phone goes both ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-need-to-stop-feeling-bad-for-not-talking-to-people-i-was-once-close/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every time something happens in the Middle East, my phone goes off with radio stations wanting to ask my opinion, but I don't always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omid-djalili/every-time-something-happens-in-the-middle-east-my-phone-goes-off/) [Omid Djalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omid-djalili/) > [A phone goes both ways so if you want to talk make that happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-phone-goes-both-ways-so-if-you-want-to-talk-make-that-happen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That awkward moment when your phone goes dead in the middle of a interesting conversation...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lonniedagreat/that-awkward-moment-when-your-phone-goes-dead-in-the-middle-of-a/) [Lonniedagreat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lonniedagreat/) > [When yoor phone goes off in class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenzie-ann/when-yoor-phone-goes-off-in-class/) [Kenzie-ann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenzie-ann/) > [Anytime someone builds a little application that runs on a cell phone, there's something that goes on the server.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gosling/anytime-someone-builds-a-little-application-that-runs-on-a-cell-phone/) [James Gosling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gosling/) > [If you have WhatsApp and your phone goes down, you don't have access to your messages. You can't send documents and it's not private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pavel-durov/if-you-have-whatsapp-and-your-phone-goes-down-you-don-t-have-access/) [Pavel Durov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pavel-durov/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. What we have left is the fight of faith, and it's a good fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-oyakhilome/the-devil-has-been-defeated-stop-trying-to-defeat-him-what-we-have/) [Chris Oyakhilome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-oyakhilome/) > [Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-defeated-in-the-presence-of-the-wise-than-to-excel-among/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Michael Ignatieff > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [What really matters is getting new people in. 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Harry Truman wasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/some-of-our-finest-leaders-were-not-intellectuals-at-all-and-i-admire/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [If you get the access to see history happen, do you understand the history when it does happen? And the answer to that question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/if-you-get-the-access-to-see-history-happen-do-you-understand-the/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [I have been a journalist, off and on, since I was 17. 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She was dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-mcintosh/i-m-just-she-wanted-to-say-not-in-the-mood-but-that-was-not-only-a/) [Will McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-mcintosh/) > [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [He was obviously dead. 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