Former President Barack Obama delivered a stern message to high-dollar Democrats at a recent fundraiser, CNN reports.

“Enough moping. This is a mope-free zone,” he told the crowd. Obama’s remark came after a characteristically long-winded call for action to the group. He said:

“If you are one of these folks who is watching cable news at your cocktail parties with your friends and you are saying ‘civilization is collapsing’ and you are nervous and worried, but that is not where you are putting all your time, energy and money, then either you don’t actually think civilization is collapsing … or you are not pushing yourself hard enough and I would push harder.”

The former U.S. president also warned the group not to be too optimistic about the 2018 mid-term elections saying “I would caution us from extrapolating too much from a bunch of special elections and starting to think, ‘OK, this will take care of itself.'”

The high-dollar Democratic National Committee fundraiser marked Obama’s first trip into the political foray of 2018. The former U.S. president has spent much of his time out of office galavanting around the world, raising money for his soon to open foundation, all while pursuing lucrative book and TV contracts.