--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never…" description: "\"We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words.\" — Hisham Matar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48f/hisham-matar-4118_gaddafi_we-got-rid-of-muammar-gaddafi-i-never-th_823388.png" --- # We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be… ![“We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words.” quote by Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48f/hisham-matar-4118_gaddafi_we-got-rid-of-muammar-gaddafi-i-never-th_823388.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48f/hisham-matar-4118_gaddafi_we-got-rid-of-muammar-gaddafi-i-never-th_823388.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48f/hisham-matar-4118_gaddafi_we-got-rid-of-muammar-gaddafi-i-never-th_823388.png) > “We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words.” [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 speaker reflects on the unexpected personal impact of a political event, expressing disbelief at being able to write about it now **In simple terms:** A political killing feels surreal when later reflecting Key Takeaway Acknowledge the emotional weight of historical events Themes reflection politics personal narrative Mood reflective somber Type memoir political commentary When to use this quote - Writing memoirs - public speaking - teaching about history - counseling trauma victims Key Concepts Trauma historical memory displacement Questions to Reflect On - How does personal experience shape historical storytelling? - What responsibilities do writers have when recounting trauma? A Different Perspective Personal grief may color factual recounting ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Muammar gaddafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muammar-gaddafi/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [There's more than 1700 emails out of the thirty three thousand Hillary Clinton emails that we've published, just about Libya. It's not that Libya…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/there-s-more-than-1700-emails-out-of-the-thirty-three-thousand/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Libya faces along to the Mediterranean and had been effectively the cork in the bottle of Africa. So all problems, economic problems and civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/libya-faces-along-to-the-mediterranean-and-had-been-effectively-the/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Who should regulate the media? Who should control the press? The commentariat agonises, as if the choice was between state control through some autocratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-ascherson/who-should-regulate-the-media-who-should-control-the-press-the/) [Neal Ascherson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-ascherson/) > [ We didn't put a single boot on the ground, and \[Muammar\] Gaddafi was deposed. The Libyans turned out for one of the most successful,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-didn-t-put-a-single-boot-on-the-ground-and-muammar-gaddafi-was/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [ \[Muammar\] Gaddafi probably had more blood on his hands of Americans than anybody else. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/muammar-gaddafi-probably-had-more-blood-on-his-hands-of-americans/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The fact of the matter is that if we were going to do anything about Gaddafi, it should have been at the beginning. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-eagleburger/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-if-we-were-going-to-do-anything-about/) [Lawrence Eagleburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-eagleburger/) > [Like most dictators, Col Gaddafi detests the metropolis. His vision of Libya is a kind of Bedouin romantic medievalism, suspicious of universities, theatres, galleries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/like-most-dictators-col-gaddafi-detests-the-metropolis-his-vision-of/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [Gaddafi tried to give a masterclass to men like the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, on how to crush a civilian uprising.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/gaddafi-tried-to-give-a-masterclass-to-men-like-the-syrian-dictator/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [One of the dark truths about dictators - and it applies to Gaddafi - is that on some level, they love their people. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/one-of-the-dark-truths-about-dictators-and-it-applies-to-gaddafi-is/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [We have defeated Gaddafi on the battlefield; now we must defeat him in our imagination. We must not allow his legacy to corrupt our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/we-have-defeated-gaddafi-on-the-battlefield-now-we-must-defeat-him-in/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [The cost of Colonel Gaddafi's rule on Libyan society is incalculable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/the-cost-of-colonel-gaddafi-s-rule-on-libyan-society-is-incalculable/) [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/) > [Gaddafi's ability to have survived so long rests on his convenient position in not being committed to a single ideology and his use of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/gaddafi-s-ability-to-have-survived-so-long-rests-on-his-convenient/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [The writer will write in his or her words, but the readers, even when they are not reading you, will take it elsewhere entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-writer-will-write-in-his-or-her-words-but-the-readers-even-when/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [“History is replete with rulers who maintained stability at the cost of justice, humanity and morality. Everyone from Adolf Hitler to Saddam Hussein to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidin-vadukut/history-is-replete-with-rulers-who-maintained-stability-at-the-cost/) [Sidin Vadukut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidin-vadukut/) ## 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 Gaddafi quotes > [There's more than 1700 emails out of the thirty three thousand Hillary Clinton emails that we've published, just about Libya. It's not that Libya…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/there-s-more-than-1700-emails-out-of-the-thirty-three-thousand/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wasn't Saddam destroyed? Wasn't Gaddafi liquidated? Didn't Milosevic go to the Hague? All true. But Stalin survived. Kim Jong-un isn't doing too badly, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/wasn-t-saddam-destroyed-wasn-t-gaddafi-liquidated-didn-t-milosevic-go/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [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/) > [We're exposing our minors to abuse by the fact that they leave the radio on in the car and let them listen to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinead-o-connor/we-re-exposing-our-minors-to-abuse-by-the-fact-that-they-leave-the/) [Sinead O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinead-o-connor/) > [Actually I can't imagine Nato troops on the ground and I think it's also important to send that very clear message to the UN…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-fogh-rasmussen/actually-i-can-t-imagine-nato-troops-on-the-ground-and-i-think-it-s/) [Anders Fogh Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-fogh-rasmussen/) > [In the annals of American blunders, the Bay of Pigs may have been even more feckless, and the invasion of Iraq more costly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/in-the-annals-of-american-blunders-the-bay-of-pigs-may-have-been-even/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [President Chavez has always been a loyal friend of Gaddafi, assassinated in the crudest way possible. Europe should think about the bombings and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-maduro/president-chavez-has-always-been-a-loyal-friend-of-gaddafi/) [Nicolas Maduro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-maduro/) > [Born to a tribal Bedouin family of nomadic desert shepherds in the region of Tripoli, Gaddafi was profoundly anti-colonialist. It is affirmed that his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/born-to-a-tribal-bedouin-family-of-nomadic-desert-shepherds-in-the/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [Of course, there is no question that Libya - and the world - will be better off with Gaddafi out of power. I, along…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/of-course-there-is-no-question-that-libya-and-the-world-will-be/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ \[Muammar\] Gaddafi probably had more blood on his hands of Americans than anybody else. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/muammar-gaddafi-probably-had-more-blood-on-his-hands-of-americans/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [After he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein, he (Gadhafi) did not want to be Saddam Hussein. He gave up his nuclear program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/after-he-saw-what-happened-to-saddam-hussein-he-gadhafi-did-not-want/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [Like most dictators, Col Gaddafi detests the metropolis. His vision of Libya is a kind of Bedouin romantic medievalism, suspicious of universities, theatres, galleries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/like-most-dictators-col-gaddafi-detests-the-metropolis-his-vision-of/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [We are making progress militarily, there is no doubt about that. You've seen the reports from Misrata, although reports of the Gaddafi forces completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hague/we-are-making-progress-militarily-there-is-no-doubt-about-that-you-ve/) [William Hague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hague/) > [We shall remember Gaddafi our whole lives as a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/we-shall-remember-gaddafi-our-whole-lives-as-a-great-fighter-a/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [Did Hillary Clinton short-circuit when she advocated for the overthrow of Muamar Gaddafi and Libya is now an Islamic State stranglehold?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-giuliani/did-hillary-clinton-short-circuit-when-she-advocated-for-the/) [Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-giuliani/) Browse all 41 Gaddafi quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. 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