--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the same way that Egypt and Libya…" description: "\"In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to 'disappear' my father and silence writers such as Idris Ali, they made me, too, to a far lesser exten..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png" --- # In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to… ![“In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to 'disappear' my father and silence writers such as Idris Ali, they made me, too, to a far lesser extent, feel punished for speaking out.” quote by Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png) > “In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to 'disappear' my father and silence writers such as Idris Ali, they made me, too, to a far lesser extent, feel punished for speaking out.” [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author describes personal and familial repression linked to political oppression, feeling punished for speaking out. **In simple terms:** Political repression silences individuals and families. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist forces that suppress truth. Themes oppression family speech Mood reflective somber Type memoir political When to use this quote - activism - writing - family dialogue - human rights advocacy Key Concepts authoritarianism censorship trauma Questions to Reflect On - What strategies can protect free expression? - How does personal trauma influence activism? A Different Perspective Risk of retaliation and personal danger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Egypt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egypt/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) ## Related quotes > [“Do I feel I should be punished? Yes. Why else would I have given myself bangs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/do-i-feel-i-should-be-punished-yes-why-else-would-i-have-given-myself/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [But Anatole said suddenly, 'Don't expect God's protection in places beyond God's dominion. It will only make you feel punished. I'm warning you. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-anatole-said-suddenly-don-t-expect-god-s-protection-in-places/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Do not expect God's protection in places beyond God's dominion. It will only make you feel punished. I'm warning you. When things go badly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/do-not-expect-god-s-protection-in-places-beyond-god-s-dominion-it/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [When I'm there, it's pure silence. There are other writers there, too, and I get super competitive. I have this weird fear that some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-de-la-pena/when-i-m-there-it-s-pure-silence-there-are-other-writers-there-too/) [Matt de la Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-de-la-pena/) > [Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/pity-the-nation-that-has-to-silence-its-writers-for-speaking-their-2/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Relationships don't thrive because the guilty are punished but because the innocent are merciful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/relationships-don-t-thrive-because-the-guilty-are-punished-but/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“Her peculiarities must not be punished.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-spyri/her-peculiarities-must-not-be-punished/) [Johanna Spyri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-spyri/) > [“The one thing people loved more than an outlaw was seeing him punished.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/the-one-thing-people-loved-more-than-an-outlaw-was-seeing-him-punished/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [Intemperance is naturally punished with diseases; rashness, with mischance; injustice; with violence of enemies; pride, with ruin; cowardice, with oppression; and rebellion, with slaughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/intemperance-is-naturally-punished-with-diseases-rashness-with/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Men are not punished for their for sins, but by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/men-are-not-punished-for-their-for-sins-but-by-them/) [Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/) > [Only the man who has enough good in him to feel the justice of the penalty can be punished; the others can only be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ernest-hocking/only-the-man-who-has-enough-good-in-him-to-feel-the-justice-of-the/) [William Ernest Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ernest-hocking/) > [The innocent are punished. That's the world we live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-hanif/the-innocent-are-punished-that-s-the-world-we-live-in/) [Mohammed Hanif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-hanif/) > [When someone else is getting punished you show up, you eat some lunch, you sit back because you're not going to do anything. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sal-vulcano/when-someone-else-is-getting-punished-you-show-up-you-eat-some-lunch/) [Sal Vulcano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sal-vulcano/) > [War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evans-hughes/war-should-be-made-a-crime-and-those-who-instigate-it-should-be/) [Charles Evans Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evans-hughes/) > [“He hung his head. “Am I punished?” “Yes. I’m too mad to punish you right now. We’ll talk about it when we get home.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/he-hung-his-head-am-i-punished-yes-i-m-too-mad-to-punish-you-right/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) ## More by Hisham Matar > [There and then, sitting beside her and within the strength of my adoration, I felt invincible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/there-and-then-sitting-beside-her-and-within-the-strength-of-my/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [To be okay with not knowing is a sign of a mature person and a mature society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/to-be-okay-with-not-knowing-is-a-sign-of-a-mature-person-and-a-mature/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [“History remembers Mussolini as the buffoonish Fascist, the ineffective silly man of Italy who led a lame military campaign in the Second World War,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/history-remembers-mussolini-as-the-buffoonish-fascist-the-ineffective/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Grief loves the hollow; all it wants is to hear its own echo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/grief-loves-the-hollow-all-it-wants-is-to-hear-its-own-echo/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Dreams have consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/dreams-have-consequences/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Language is not just a code; you are writing into its history, into its tides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/language-is-not-just-a-code-you-are-writing-into-its-history-into-its/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [My parents were fairly laid-back, but there were certain things about which they were very strict. My brother and I were told never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/my-parents-were-fairly-laid-back-but-there-were-certain-things-about/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [I am terribly interested in the paragraph: the paragraph as an object, the construction, and the possibilities of what a paragraph can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/i-am-terribly-interested-in-the-paragraph-the-paragraph-as-an-object/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [My parents left Libya in 1979, escaping political repression, and settled in Cairo. I was nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/my-parents-left-libya-in-1979-escaping-political-repression-and/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Libyans are deeply unsettled by Gaddafi and his regime's careless contempt for human life. The dictatorship is willing to employ any methods necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/libyans-are-deeply-unsettled-by-gaddafi-and-his-regime-s-careless/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [My best hope is that Libya turns into a peaceful, sensible country that has all the things my father and lots of others have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/my-best-hope-is-that-libya-turns-into-a-peaceful-sensible-country/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, is an eloquent and restrained portrait of one man's exile. It is a rare narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/season-of-migration-to-the-north-by-tayeb-salih-is-an-eloquent-and/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Turgenev's achievement lies in how he succeeded, in spite of himself, his country, and his time, in exempting his work from public duty. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/turgenev-s-achievement-lies-in-how-he-succeeded-in-spite-of-himself/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Over the centuries, close-knit tribes have played an important part in the cohesion of Libyan society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/over-the-centuries-close-knit-tribes-have-played-an-important-part-in/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [My work is my shelter, particularly in these moments when things are happening fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/my-work-is-my-shelter-particularly-in-these-moments-when-things-are/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) [Explore all 116 Hisham Matar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) ## More Egypt quotes > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [Its up to any government to decide how to react to the denial of basic human rights anywhere in the world, including Egypt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/its-up-to-any-government-to-decide-how-to-react-to-the-denial-of/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people-to-people or arts/culture/media-to-people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. 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Chandler [Browse all 679 Egypt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egypt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to 'disappear' my father and silence writers such as Idris Ali, they made me, too, to a far lesser extent, feel punished for speaking out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hisham Matar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-conspired-to-disappear-my-father/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Egypt" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-conspired-to-disappear-my-father/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/hisham-matar-4118_egypt_in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-con_2926943.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the same way that Egypt and Libya conspired to 'disappear' my father and silence writers such as Idris…” — Hisham Matar", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Hisham Matar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the same way that Egypt...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-conspired-to-disappear-my-father/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/in-the-same-way-that-egypt-and-libya-conspired-to-disappear-my-father/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```