You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.

Schroeder’s line contrasts two physical gestures that symbolize opposing responses to difficulty: wringing one’s hands (anxious fretting, helplessness) versus rolling up one’s sleeves (practical readiness to work). The aphorism argues that energy spent on performative worry or moral panic is energy not spent on constructive action. It also implies a choice: in moments of political or civic crisis, one must decide whether to posture as distressed or to engage in the unglamorous labor of solving problems. As a piece of political rhetoric, it encourages agency and responsibility while gently mocking paralysis-by-anxiety.