Muammar Gaddafi Quotes

Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi , commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977, and then as the "Brotherly Leader" of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism but later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.

Born near Sirte, Italian Libya, to a poor Bedouin family, Gaddafi became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military, he founded a revolutionary group which deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris in a 1969 coup. Having taken power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council. Ruling by decree, he deported Libya's Italian and Jewish populations and ejected its Western military bases. Strengthening ties to Arab nationalist governments—particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt—he unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union. An Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted "Islamic socialism". He nationalized the oil industry and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military, fund foreign revolutionaries, and implement social programs emphasizing house-building, healthcare and education projects. In 1973, he initiated a "Popular Revolution" with the formation of Basic People's Congresses, presented as a system of direct democracy, but retained personal control over major decisions. He outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book.

Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called a Jamahiriya in 1977. He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya's unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad, support for foreign militants, and alleged responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing in Scotland left it increasingly isolated on the world stage. A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel, resulting in the 1986 US bombing of Libya and United Nations–imposed economic sanctions. From 1999, Gaddafi shunned Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatization, rapprochement with Western nations, and pan-Africanism; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya. The situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council . The government was overthrown, and Gaddafi retreated to Sirte, only to be captured and killed by NTC militants.

A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. He was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, and for significant improvements that his government brought to the Libyan people's quality of life. Conversely, many Libyans strongly opposed his social and economic reforms, and he was posthumously accused of sexual abuse. He was condemned by many as a dictator whose authoritarian administration violated human rights and financed global terrorism. Wikipedia  

✵ 7. June 1942 – 20. October 2011
Muammar Gaddafi photo

Works

The Green Book
The Green Book
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi: 66   quotes 8   likes

Famous Muammar Gaddafi Quotes

“Africa is closer to me in every way than Iraq or Syria.”

Interview (2001), quoted in BBC News (6 February 2001) "Analysis: Gaddafi's revolution" by Gerald Butt
Interviews

“I am not going to leave this land. I will die as a martyr at the end. I shall remain, defiant. Muammar is Leader of the Revolution until the end of time.”

Televised address to the nation, quoted in guardian.co.uk (22 February 2011) " Gaddafi urges violent showdown and tells Libya 'I'll die a martyr' http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/22/muammar-gaddafi-urges-violent-showdown?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" by Ian Black
Speeches

“Thus the working class turns out to be a separate society, showing the same contradictions as the old society.”

The Green Book (1975)
The Green Book (1975)
Context: Any class which becomes heir to a society, inherits, at the same time, its characteristics. That is to say that if the working class crushes all other classes, for instance, it becomes heir of the society, that is, it becomes the material and social base of the society. The heir bears the traits of the one he inherits from, though they may not be evident at once. As time passes, attributes of other eliminated classes emerge in the very ranks of the working class. And the possessors of those characteristics take the attitudes and points of view appropriate to their characteristics. Thus the working class turns out to be a separate society, showing the same contradictions as the old society.

“Those rats … were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them.”

Radio address on rebel forces in Tripoli, as quoted in "Libya conflict: Col Gaddafi faces rebel uprising on streets of Tripoli" in The Telegraph (21 August 2011) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8713761/Libya-conflict-Col-Gaddafi-faces-rebel-uprising-on-streets-of-Tripoli.html
Speeches

Muammar Gaddafi Quotes about people

“I want provocation. People should take to the streets. Smash those dogs, and tell them: "you traitors will bring us the British."”

Statement (8 March 2011), as quoted in "Libya on the Line: An interactive timeline Browse through a collection of conversations between Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and other senior Libyan officials" at Aljazeera (11 May 2012) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/libyaontheline/2012/05/201251173614897923.html
Al Jazeera's mobile phone wiretaps

“The black people’s struggle has vanquished racism. It was God who created colour. Today Obama, a son of Kenya, a son of Africa, has made it in the United States of America.”

Closing remarks at the African Union summit (4 February 2009), quoted in RFI English (4 February 2009) " Kadhafi closes AU summit, division over plans for 'United States of Africa' http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2801.asp" by Zeenat Hansrod

“Lincoln was a man who created himself from nothing without any help from outside or other people. I followed his struggles. I see certain similarities between him and me.”

The Pittsburgh Press (3 August 1986) "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin (UPI)

Muammar Gaddafi Quotes about the world

“We [Libyans] support the Palestinian resistance, and all the world supports this. We support their just cause, but we are against terrorism.”

The Pittsburgh Press (3 August 1986) "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin (UPI)

“Israel is a colonialist-imperialist phenomenon. There is no such thing as an Israeli people. Before 1948, world geography knew of no state such as Israel. Israel is the result of an invasion, of aggression.”

Time (9 April 1979) " World: An Interview with Gaddafi http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920211-1,00.html"
Interviews

Muammar Gaddafi: Trending quotes

“During my term in AU, I will initiate an organised compensation claim for Africa and I will fight for a greater voice for Africa in the United Nations Security Council. If they do not want to live with us fairly, it is our planet and they can go to another planet.”

Remarks at African Union headquarters, quoted in Daily Nation (5 February 2009) " Gaddafi defends Somali pirates http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/525348/-/13rtrgiz/-/index.html" by Argaw Ahine

“Women must be trained to fight in houses, prepare explosive belts and blow themselves up alongside enemy soldiers. Anyone with a car must prepare it and know how to install explosives and turn it into a car-bomb. We must train women to place explosives in cars and blow them up in the midst of enemies, and blow up houses so that they can collapse on enemy soldiers. Traps must be prepared. You have seen how the enemy checks baggage: we must fix these suitcases in order for them to explode when they open them. Women must be taught to place mines in cupboards, bags, shoes, children's toys so that they explode on enemy soldiers.”

Speech to the women of Sabha, October 4 2003; cited in ilfoglio.it http://www.ilfoglio.it/zakor/82
Speeches
Variant: The woman must be trained to fight inside the houses, to prepare an explosive belt and to blow herself up with the enemy soldiers. Anyone with a car has to prepare it and know how to fix the explosive and turn it into a car bomb. We have to train women to dispose of explosives in cars and make them explode in the midst of the enemy, to blow up the houses to make them collapse on enemy soldiers. You have to prepare traps. You have seen how the enemy controls the baggage: you have to manipulate these suitcases to make them explode when they open them. Women must be taught to undermine the cabinets, bags, shoes, children's toys, so that they burst on enemy soldiers.

“My brother! You are my brother for the rest of my life!”

Gaddafi expressing his gratitude to Nicolae Ceauşescu after receiving a Romanian translation of the Koran, quoted in Red Horizons: Chronicles of a Communist Spy Chief (1987) by Ion Mihai Pacepa, p. 101

Muammar Gaddafi Quotes

“Nothing would please me more, but who else would pump the oil that we need? God damn America.”

Response to a question on expelling Americans from Libya (March 1973), quoted in Time (2 April 1973) " The Arab World: Oil, Power, Violence http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907040-6,00.html"

“I have nothing to say to him [Ronald Reagan], because he is mad. He is foolish. He is an Israeli dog.”

Interview with Marie Colvin, 20 June 1986. Sun-Sentinel http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-06-20/news/8602060350_1_moammar-gadhafi-white-house-wife

“I call on the Libyan people, men and women, to go out into the squares and the streets in all the cities in their millions. … Go peacefully… be courageous, rise up, go to the streets, raise our green flags to the skies. … Don't be afraid of anyone. You are the people. You have right on your side. You are the rightful people of this land.”

Audio message broadcast on the pro-Gaddafi Syrian Al Rai TV on 20 September 2011, as quoted in Libya conflict: Muammar Gaddafi urges mass protests http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15206478, BBC World News, 6 October 2011
Speeches

“Libya lived for 5000 years without oil and it is ready to live another 5000 years without it.”

Quote from oil fields nationalisation speech.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12688033

“What's going on? … What you are doing is not allowed in Islamic law [halal]. What you are doing is forbidden in Islam [haraam]! … Do you know right from wrong?”

Remarks to captors minutes before death, quoted in msnbc.com (2011 October 21) "Even stashed in a meat locker, Gadhafi divides Libya" http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44986347/ns/today-today_news/t/battle-over-body-delays-gadhafis-burial/

“What's wrong with the Spanish? Tell them they do not appreciate their own interests. Tell them we will recognize the Basques. Threaten them with this, and recognize Andalusia.”

Statement (5 April 2011), as quoted in "Libya on the Line: An interactive timeline Browse through a collection of conversations between Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and other senior Libyan officials" at Aljazeera (11 May 2012)
Al Jazeera's mobile phone wiretaps

“1. There is Nato intervention politically as well as military.”

The Green Book (1975), Letter to Barack Obama

“I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level.”

Remarks after insulting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and having his microphone cut (30 March 2009), quoted in The Scotsman (31 March 2009) " Gaddafi walks out of summit after attack on Saudi king http://news.scotsman.com/world/Gaddafi-walks-out-of-summit.5123610.jp" by Salah Nasrawi

“There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet.”

Video lecture at Columbia University (23 March 2006), quoted in BBC News (23 March 2006) "Gaddafi gives lesson on democracy"
Speeches

“Reagan is mad. If he were here, I would tell him the truth about us. He hears about us only through hostile sources.”

Remarks quoted in The Pittsburgh Press (3 August 1986) "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin (UPI)

“When I met Nasser, he said to me, "I see myself when I was young in you. You are the future for the Arab revolution." This meant very, very much to me.”

The Pittsburgh Press (3 August 1986) "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin (UPI)

“The integrity of China was more important than [the people] in Tiananmen Square.”

Televised address to the nation, quoted in guardian.co.uk (22 February 2011) " Gaddafi urges violent showdown and tells Libya 'I'll die a martyr' http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/22/muammar-gaddafi-urges-violent-showdown?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" by Ian Black
Speeches

“I am a Bedouin warrior who brought glory to Libya and will die a martyr.”

Televised address to the nation
Speeches

“We will fight in every valley, in every street, in every oasis, and every town. We won't surrender again; we are not women; we will keep fighting.”

Audio message broadcast on the pro-Gaddafi Syrian Al Rai TV on 1 September 2011, quoted on Al Jazeera live blog http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191141151339449.html.
Speeches

“[Somali maritime violence] is a response to greedy Western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia's water resources illegally. It is not a piracy, it is self defence. It is defending the Somalia children's food.”

Remarks at African Union headquarters, quoted in Daily Nation (5 February 2009) " Gaddafi defends Somali pirates http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/525348/-/13rtrgiz/-/index.html" by Argaw Ahine

“In the Middle East, the opposition is quite different than the opposition in advanced countries. In our countries, the opposition takes the form of explosions, assassinations, killings.”

Video lecture at Columbia University (23 March 2006), quoted in BBC News (23 March 2006) "Gaddafi gives lesson on democracy"
Speeches

“We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe—without swords, without guns, without conquest—will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

Speech (10 April 2006), quoted in New York Sun (6 September 2009) "Terrorists Promise More Attacks Like 9/11" by Steven Stalinsky
Speeches

“We believe America is practicing all kinds of terrorism against Libya. Even the accusation that we are involved in terrorism is in itself an act of terrorism.”

Time (8 June 1981) " An Interview with Gaddafi http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922551-2,00.html"
Interviews

“Oil is like drugs. Find the commodity smugglers. Many are adventurous; they will buy from you at a discount and they don't care about embargoes.”

Statement (11 April 2011) as quoted in "Gaddafi clung to a fading reality" at Aljazeera (21 May 2012) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/libyaontheline/2012/05/201256134918771317.html
Al Jazeera's mobile phone wiretaps

“I think it is peaceful and civil … civilian activity for investigation of space, or something like this.”

About a program to develop a rocket. In HyperNormalization. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2cDKyFdyU&t=59m54s
Interviews

Similar authors

Rosa Luxemburg photo
Rosa Luxemburg 56
Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolut…
Hannah Arendt photo
Hannah Arendt 85
Jewish-American political theorist
Ernesto Che Guevara photo
Ernesto Che Guevara 258
Argentine Marxist revolutionary
Leon Trotsky photo
Leon Trotsky 106
Marxist revolutionary from Russia
Vladimir Lenin photo
Vladimir Lenin 336
Russian politician, led the October Revolution
Antonio Gramsci photo
Antonio Gramsci 22
Italian writer, politician, theorist, sociologist and lingu…
Olavo de Carvalho photo
Olavo de Carvalho 6
Brazilian journalist, essayist and professor of philosophy
Simone de Beauvoir photo
Simone de Beauvoir 152
French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, po…
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk photo
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 38
Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first Presiden…
Elinor Ostrom photo
Elinor Ostrom 4
American political economist