Top 72 Quotes & Sayings by Muammar al-Gaddafi

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

I cannot recognise either the Palestinian state or the Israeli state. The Palestinians are idiots and the Israelis are idiots.

I do not support peace in the Middle East. And I do not support Arafat. He is a stupid, incompetent fool!

I was a hardliner with regard to colonialism, which had occupied Africa and large parts of the world. We were waging an armed struggle, and therefore, one had to be strong. But now, no one asks for weapons but for economic aid, which changes your position.

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.

America is so afraid of terror and terrorism to the point that they don't allow people to move around freely and see what they wish to see. I really wish to see the whole of America, if it is possible.

All right, then nobody can complain if we ask pregnant women to make parachute jumps.

I am keen and anxious for the safety of both the Jews and the Palestinians.

It was very much exaggerated, this information campaign, this sustained campaign against us. But if I may... Over the process of years, it will thaw out. I mean, just gradually through contact, through dialogue, through investment.

The world doesn't understand the system here. The authority of the people. You don't understand it.

We have been terrorised by what happened in America and we express our condolences to the American people who suffered from this unexpected catastrophe and a new world war.

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

There is an intention to colonise Libya. And this makes the Libyan people want to fight the new colonisation by the West.

I'm not a president. They love me. All my people are with me; they love me all. They will die to protect me, my people.

Those who do not love me do not deserve to live.

If they wanted to end the violence and war between them and if they wanted Jews and Palestinians to live in peace, Jews and Palestinians, then they should consider this solution: one democratic state, free from weapons of mass destruction, and with the return of the Palestinian refugees.

There must be a world revolution which puts an end to all materialistic conditions hindering woman from performing her natural role in life and driving her to carry out man's duties in order to be equal in rights.

We have to serve God or guarantee the safety of the Jews. And this can be done by them accepting the Palestinians, recognizing the Palestinians, accepting that fact that they should live with the Palestinians in one state, together. Unfortunately, the Jews are fighting or struggling against their own friend - the Arabs.

The times of Arab nationalism and unity are gone forever. These ideas which mobilized the masses are only a worthless currency.

Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin.

My presence is to instigate and incite the people for any change they want, and for not having a change that they don't wish to do.

We are telling the American people to have patience, courage, resolve and determination.

The West sees liberation movements as terrorist movements, and that is why I am accused of supporting terrorism: because I support liberation movements.

For 40 years, I have not been the ruler - the authority has been with the people. They take nothing from me or add anything to me.

The times of Arab nationalism and unity are gone forever.

I won't be a party to a conspiracy to mobilize the Arabs against the Persians. Only the forces of colonialism benefit from such a conspiracy. I won't be a party to a conspiracy that splits Islam into two - Shiite Islam and Sunni Islam - mobilizing Sunni Islam against Shiite Islam.

A woman has the right to run for election whether she's male or female!

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.

If Abu Nidal is a terrorist, then so is George Washington.

Boxing and wrestling are evidence that mankind has not rid itself of all savage behavior.

All of the great prophets of modern times have come from the desert and were uneducated: Mohammed, Jesus and myself.

Once a ruler becomes religious, it becomes impossible for you to debate with him. Once someone rules in the name of religion, your lives become hell.

Americans are good people. They have no aggressions against us and they like us as we like them. They must know I don't hate them. I love them.... I hear it is a complex society inside. Many Americans don't know about the outside world. The majority have no concern and no information about other people. They could not even find Africa on a map. I think Americans are good, but America will be taken over and destroyed from the inside by the Zionist lobby. The Americans do not see this. They are getting decadent. Zionists will use this to destroy them.

Britain no longer exists. It is a trace of what it used to be.

[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.

Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe.

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 (Western nations) do not want to live with us fairly, it is our planet and they can go to other planet.

We can export terrorism. We can assassinate and set fires inside the territory of the United States as it did to all of us.

There are serious mistakes - among them the one saying that Jesus came as a messenger for other people other than the sons of Israel... Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Other people who are not sons of Israel have nothing to do with that religion... It is a mistake that another religion exists alongside Islam. There is only one religion which is Islam after Mohammed... All those believers who do not follow Islam are losers.

To force a human being to learn according to a set curriculum is a dictatorial act.

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.

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.

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.

Even if there comes a time when you do not hear my voice, do not give up. Do not despair. Do not stop fighting for your freedom until you have victory!

When everyone is part of the people's congress, what need is there for an opposition? Opposition to what? You oppose a government! If there is no government, and the people govern themselves on their own, what are they going to oppose? Something that isn't there?

Man's freedom is lacking if somebody else controls what he needs, for need may result in man's enslavement of man.

The times of Arab nationalism and unity are gone forever. These ideas which mobilized the masses are only a worthless currency. Libya has had to put up with too much from the Arabs for whom it has poured forth both blood and money.

Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life. We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honour.

I am defending the Jews to prevent them from becoming extinct, because they are doomed to become extinct if they continue this way.... I am convinced that the solution is to establish a democratic state for the Jews and the Palestinians, a state that will be called Palestine, Isratine, or whatever they want. This is the fundamental solution, or else the Jews will be annihilated in the future, because the Palestinians have [strategic] depth.

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

I think Americans are good, but America will be taken over and destroyed from the inside by the Zionist lobby. The Americans do not see this. They are getting decadent. Zionists will use this to destroy them.

The man who carried out the attack is still in power and still insane, so we shall expect another attack any minute.

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.

While it is democratically not permissible for an individual to own any information or publishing medium, all individuals have a natural right to self-expression by any means, even if such means were insane and meant to prove a person's insanity.

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

If a community of people wears white on a mournful occasion and another dresses in black, then one community would like white and dislike black and the other would like black and dislike white. Moreover, this attitude leaves a physical effect on the cells as well as on the genes in the body.

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

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.

There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe - without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.

[The] type of education now prevailing all over the world is directed against human freedom. State-controlled education ... deprives people of their free choice, creativity and brilliance.