“In the beginning was the Word.”
The wise Socrates once said: “Speak so I may see you.”
And Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib said:
“Speak so that you may be known, for a person is hidden beneath their tongue.”
I have previously written several articles on the importance of the word compared to complicit silence. I found that a number of the youth from the “Dreamers of Tomorrow” group had compiled a book they titled “Said to Him and About Him”, collecting some of my sayings—both original and borrowed—that shape my conscience and reflect life’s wisdom:
- Awareness is a mental state through which reality and the facts happening around us are perceived. It arises from a person’s interaction and engagement with their environment, which grants them knowledge. Awareness matures gradually by comprehending everything around through the senses, which transmit inputs to the mind, where they are interpreted, composed, and understood.
— “I think, therefore I am.”
Awareness itself is the starting point. Doubt gives birth to certainty in the existence of the thinking self.
- I am genetically an optimistic man. I see light amid darkness, I see beauty around me and choose to focus on it. I see the best in people. My nature leans toward building and helping others—not destruction and rejection for the sake of it. I love my country, I love people, and I recognize their hidden virtues and potential.
- If the map is wrong, then no matter how skilled the driver, how efficient the car, how good the intentions, or how enthusiastic the performance… we will never reach the intended destination.
- I may disagree with you on an issue, but I will defend your right to think and express. This is my principle.
I may object to much of what you do, but if you achieve something useful, I will praise it. This is my approach.
I may love you as a person yet disagree with your opinion, and that should not ruin our mutual respect. That’s how I’ve been, and how I’ll remain.
- The phenomenon of behavioral split among the elite—the gap between what is said in private and what is said or done publicly, especially in positions of power—is not exclusive to Egypt, but takes a concerning form in the Egyptian context.
- People are irritated by the qualities that make you unique, not the flaws that harm you. They resent what belittles them, not what belittles you.
(– Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad)
- “I don’t fear for the reformer an enemy as much as I fear public opinion, for the masses hold a terrifying power over souls that only the strongest and most determined can withstand…”
(– Inspired by Taha Hussein)
The beauty of Egypt lies in the diversity of thought and perspectives. Its core value, in addition to its unparalleled human and historical legacy, lies in the variety of its people. Let us be proud of our differences in thought, religion, and opinion, and unite in our pursuit of a better society and happiness for all. We may differ in means but share the same goal.
Our true need for a leap in governance and citizens’ well-being requires a sound mind:
A political governance system supported by two wings—justice and sustainable human development, with education and knowledge as its entry point. When both wings are effective, everything becomes possible economically, socially, and humanely.
- “Beliefs do not change facts, but if you are reasonable, facts should change your beliefs.”
I read this somewhere—don’t know the author—but it’s a powerful idea for anyone resisting science and reason, clinging to beliefs formed before they were even born.
- Don’t complain about having little—for nothing is less than that.
And don’t walk arrogantly with what you have, for others may wish for even a part of it.
Be thankful for your blessings every morning.
(– A modified quote from Ali ibn Abi Talib)
- We must build upon achievements, not on the ruins of what we destroy.
- An extremist is someone who believes their view is absolutely right and that their belief is the only truth.
They become authoritarian when they exclude anyone with a different opinion.
They become criminals when they kill those who differ with them.
They become terrorists when they kill everyone—known or unknown—to impose their message and eliminate others.
- The easiest route for those unable to persuade others is to enforce one-way thinking, obedience, and limit choices.
- Science teaches a person that they do not know.
Ignorance makes a person unaware of their own ignorance!
- Conscious criticism is a necessity for survival, not a luxury for the elite.
What we need is responsible national critique—that does not confuse the homeland with the regime, that doesn’t justify tyranny out of fear of conspiracy, nor push for chaos under the banner of freedom.
- Societies do not grow through shouting or repression, but through dialogue, acknowledgment of difference, and the understanding that free expression doesn’t threaten the system—it protects it from stagnation.
- In the depths of the human psyche, lies a perplexing paradox that’s hard to explain logically:
Why does a person sometimes defend the one who wronged them?
Why does the victim sympathize with the oppressor?
Why do nations justify the oppression of their rulers and even glorify them in their cruelty?
These are not isolated incidents but a recurring human pattern across ages and societies—known in psychology as Stockholm Syndrome.
- We reach rock bottom in the political system when a citizen turns from an overseer of power into a traitor for merely asking questions, when they are required to applaud before they think, when patriotism is equated with obedience, and the mind becomes a threat to be contained.
“No tyrant has ever found an audience unless they first found people too afraid to speak.”
(– Friedrich Nietzsche)
- Silence is not neutrality, it’s complicity.
When elites remain silent, they justify wrongdoing.
Though the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, this freedom is endangered when besieged from both extremes:
the radicals in power and blind supporters,
and the radical opponents to the system.
- When citizens feel that participation doesn’t lead to change, that the outcomes are predetermined—
politics becomes a meaningless farce.
