QuoteProject
Dreams have consequences. There is no turning back. A revolution is not a painless march to the gates of freedom and justice. It is a struggle between rage and hope, between the temptation to destroy and the desire to build. Its temperament is desperate. It is a tormented response to the past, to all that has happened, the recalled and unrecalled injustices - for the memory of a revolution reaches much further back than the memory of its protagonists.
Hisham Matar
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Dreams and revolutions come with challenges and consequences, reflecting a profound struggle for justice and freedom.

Hisham Matar's quote delves into the complex nature of revolutions, suggesting that the pursuit of freedom and justice is fraught with tension and emotional turmoil. It highlights the duality of revolution as both a response to past injustices and a struggle between destruction and creation, emphasizing that the fight for change is not only a public movement but also a deeply personal and historical experience that resonates through time.

Themes

DreamsRevolutionJusticeFreedomHopeStruggle

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a rally for social justice to inspire participants about the importance of their fight.

More from Hisham Matar

I wanted to wear her as you would a piece of clothing, to fold into her ribs, be a stone in her mouth.
Hisham MatarRead

Similar quotes

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
Mahatma GandhiRead
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born
Antonio GramsciRead
Now it is the least developed world who are not responsible for this climate change phenomenon that bore the brunt of climate change consequences so it is morally and politically correct that the developed world who made this climate change be responsible by providing financial support and technological support to these people.
Ban Ki-MoonRead
We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as in words and money.
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.Read
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
Robert KennedyRead
You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripple for change.
Tim CookRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.