Jose Rizal Quotes

On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart.

He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.

To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open a book that tells of her past.

Filipinos don't realize that victory is the child of struggle, that joy blossoms from suffering, and redemption is a product of sacrifice.

Treat your old parents as you would like to be treated by your children later.

Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so he is; a man who does not think for himself and allows himself to be guided by the thought of another is like the beast led by a halter.

I want to show to those who deprive people the right to love of country, that when we know how to sacrifice ourselves for our duties and convictions, death does not matter if one dies for those one loves – for his country and for others dear to him.

Genius has no country. It blossoms everywhere. Genius is like the light, the air. It is the heritage of all.

I have to believe much in God because I have lost my faith in man.

One only dies once, and if one does not die well, a good opportunity is lost and will not present itself again.

I die without seeing dawn's light shining on my country... You, who will see it, welcome it for me...don't forget those who fell during the nighttime.

It is enough for the evil people to succeed, for the good people to do nothing.

No good water comes from a muddy spring. No sweet fruit comes from a bitter seed.

I do not write for this generation. I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents.

The youth is the hope of our future.

Travel is a caprice in childhood, a passion in youth, a necessity in manhood, and an elegy in old age.

I go where there are no slaves, hangmen or oppressors; where faith does not kill; where the one who reigns is God.

He who would love much has also much to suffer.

I wish to show those who deny us Patriotism that we know how to die for our country and convictions.

I can concede that the government has no knowledge of the people, but I believe the people know less of the government. There are useless officials, evil, if you like, but there are also good ones, and these are not able to accomplish anything because they encounter an inert mass, the population that takes little part in matters that concern them.

Who does not love his own tongue is far worse than a brute or stinking fish.

Our liberty will not be secured at the sword's point... We must secure it by making ourselves worthy of it. And when the people reaches that height, God will provide a weapon, the idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards, and liberty will shine out like the first dawn.

To be happy does not mean to indulge in foolishness!

To live is to be among men, and to be among men is to struggle, a struggle not only with them but with oneself; with their passions, but also with one's own.

It is not the criminals who arouse the hatred of others, but the men who are honest.

The people do not complain because they have no voice; do not move because they are lethargic, and you say that they do not suffer because you have not seen their hearts bleed.

I honor the father in his son, not the son in his father. Each one receives a reward or punishment for his deeds, but not for the acts of others.

No one blames a pilot who takes refuge in port when the storm begins to blow. It is not cowardice to duck under a bullet; what is wrong is to defy it only to fall and never rise again.

The glory of saving a country is not for him who has contributed to its ruin.

Why independence? If the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow.

For myself I think that one wrong does not right the other, and forgiveness cannot be won with useless tears or alms to the Church.

While a people preserves its language; it preserves the marks of liberty.

The example could encourage others who only fear to start.

It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.

The tyranny of some is possible only through the cowardice of others.

Friar! What a strange name. I don't remember having created such a thing!

Cowardice rightly understood begins with selfishness and ends with shame.

Man works for an object. Remove that object and you reduce him into inaction.

I don't see why I should bow my head when I could hold it high, or place it in the hands of my enemies when I can defeat them.

Oh how beautiful to fall to give you flight, to die to give you life, to rest under your sky; and in your enchanted land forever sleep.

To doubt God is to doubt one's own conscience, and in consequence it would be to doubt everything.

What is death to me? I have sown the seeds others will reap.

No one has a monopoly of the true God, nor is there a nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate prove, that it has been given the exclusive right to the Creator or sole knowledge of His Being.

Your enemies hate you more than they hate your ideas. Should you want a project to be undone propose it. Even if it were as useful as a bishop's mire it would be rejected. Once you are defeated let the humblest-looking among you sponsor it and your enemies to humble you will approve it.

Man is multiplied by the number of languages he possesses and speaks.

No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light!

God has made man a cosmopolite. He created seas for ships to glide on, the wind to push them, and the stars to guide them even in darkest night.

To the questioning glance of love, as it flashes out and then conceals itself, speech has no reply; the smile, the kiss, the sigh answer.

I have observed that the prosperity or misery of each people is in direct proportion to its liberties or its prejudices and, accordingly, to the sacrifices or the selfishness of its forefathers. -Juan Crisostomo Ibarra

How long have you been away from the country?" Laruja asked Ibarra. "Almost seven years." "Then you have probably forgotten all about it." "Quite the contrary. Even if my country does seem to have forgotten me, I have always thought about it.