Hisham Matar Quotes

Hisham Matar
Hisham Matar
American Writer
Born: 1970
Father Life Me People Writing You
Related authors: Dale Carnegie Denis Waitley Dr. Seuss H. L. Mencken Napoleon Hill Ray Bradbury W. E. B. Du Bois William Arthur Ward
One of the dark truths about dictators - and it applies to Gaddafi - is that on some level, they love their people. But it is a strange love. It says, 'I love you for me; I don't love you for you.' That rhymes with a certain kind of Libyan father who was always certain about what was good for those around him. Those fathers lose in the end. Hisham Matar
Love Good Me You Strange People Dark Father Lose Fathers Those Says Kind Some About Him Around Always End Dictators Truths Love You Gaddafi In The End Rhymes Certain Who Level
To be okay with not knowing is a sign of a mature person and a mature society. Hisham Matar
Not Knowing Society Okay Sign Knowing Mature Person
In the end, madness is worse than injustice, and justice far sweeter than freedom. Hisham Matar
Freedom Justice Injustice Madness Worse End Than In The End Far Sweeter
Over the centuries, close-knit tribes have played an important part in the cohesion of Libyan society. Hisham Matar
Important Society Tribes Part Over Important Part Centuries Played Cohesion
The Arab Spring is a powerful and compelling response not only to an age of tyranny but also to the remnant chains of imperial influence. Hisham Matar
Age Tyranny Spring Arab Arab Spring Response Only Imperial Powerful Also Influence Chains Compelling
Political dictatorships take possession not just of money and belongings but of narrative. Hisham Matar
Money Political Possession Take Narrative Dictatorships Just
My parents left Libya in 1979, escaping political repression, and settled in Cairo. I was nine. Hisham Matar
Political Parents Settled Nine Libya Left Escaping Repression
In 2006, I published my first novel, 'In the Country of Men.' The publication of the book gave me a bigger platform to speak about my father's abduction and Libya's human-rights record. Hisham Matar
Me Book Speak Father Men First Country Gave Libya Record About Bigger Novel Platform Publication Published
My earliest memory of books is not of reading but of being read to. I spent hours listening, watching the face of the person reading aloud to me. Hisham Matar
Me Memory Listening Face Reading Books Spent Aloud Hours Read Person Being Earliest Watching
Civil war is a national crisis and also a private trauma: We suffer it collectively and in isolation. Hisham Matar
War Isolation National Crisis Collectively Civil Civil War Also Private Trauma Suffer
We need a father to rage against. Hisham Matar
Father Rage Against Need
Like most dictators, Col Gaddafi detests the metropolis. His vision of Libya is a kind of Bedouin romantic medievalism, suspicious of universities, theatres, galleries and cafes, and so monitors the cities' inhabitants with paranoid suspicion. Hisham Matar
Vision Libya Cities Kind Paranoid Like Most His Metropolis Dictators Suspicion Suspicious Gaddafi Romantic Galleries Inhabitants Universities
I am, by instinct, wary of revolutions. The gathering of the masses fills me with trepidation. Hisham Matar
Me Gathering Trepidation Instinct Masses Am Revolutions Wary Fills
As a young boy in Libya, it was hard to escape the conclusion that the women were the most feeling and most functional part of society. Hisham Matar
Women Feeling Young Society Libya Part Most Boy Conclusion Were Escape Hard Functional
We have defeated Gaddafi on the battlefield; now we must defeat him in our imagination. We must not allow his legacy to corrupt our dream. Let's keep focused on the true prize: unity, democracy, and the rule of law. Let's not seek revenge; that would diminish our future. Hisham Matar
Future Democracy Revenge Law Defeat Unity Imagination Our Rule Rule Of Law Diminish Battlefield Focused Dream Must Would Corrupt Seek Allow True Him His Legacy Prize Gaddafi Keep Now Defeated
I don't remember a time when words were not dangerous. Hisham Matar
Time Words Dangerous Remember Were
Switching languages is a form of conversion. And like all conversions, whether it's judged a failure or a success, it excites the desire to leave, go elsewhere, adopt a new language and start all over again. It also means that a conscious effort is demanded to remain still. Hisham Matar
Success Failure Language Elsewhere Adopt Remain Excites Demanded Over New Like Also Judged Still Leave Go Effort Form Whether Again Conversion Means Languages Switching Conscious Conscious Effort Start Desire
Nothing we read can import new or foreign feelings that we don't, in one form or another, already possess. Hisham Matar
Feelings Nothing Possess New Import Read Another Foreign Form
I've never thought of myself in terms of an identity. I'm always baffled when I encounter someone who gives the impression about being confident about a particular defined identity. Hisham Matar
Myself Thought Defined About Someone Gives Never Baffled Particular Terms Identity Always Encounter Impression Confident Being Who
I used to believe that it was not possible to lose someone I loved without sensing it somehow, without feeling something shift. But it's not true. People can die, sometimes the closest people to us, without us noticing a thing. Hisham Matar
People Sometimes Feeling Lose Believe Possible Somehow Someone Something True Without Shift Die Closest Loved Sensing Us Noticing Used Thing
I've never been particularly interested in genre distinctions. They seem to me more useful to a librarian than to a writer. Hisham Matar
Me Distinctions Librarian Seem More Writer Never Particularly Genre Been Than Interested Useful
When you've been living in hope for a long time as I have, suddenly you realize that certainty is far more desirable than hope. Hisham Matar
Hope Time You Long Long Time Living More Been Than Far Realize Certainty Suddenly Desirable
Some of the most powerful memories are those when you are very, very young. Adult life is seen through the reflection of complex, rational thought. Hisham Matar
Life You Memories Reflection Thought Seen Young Complex Those Some Rational Through Adult Adult Life Powerful Most Most Powerful Very Young Adult
Living in hope is a really terrible thing. Hisham Matar
Hope Living Terrible Terrible Thing Really Thing
There are two voices: the first says write; the second hardly speaks, but I know what he wants. And if I let him, nothing would get done. He hovers at the edges. Hisham Matar
First Nothing Says Would Voices Write He Know Him Edges Get Done Wants Speaks Hardly Second Two
I ultimately write for myself and the people I love. Hisham Matar
Love Myself People Write Ultimately
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