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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
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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.
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