José Rizal > Quotes

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

“I have to believe much in God because I have lost my faith in man.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

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

“Cowardice rightly understood begins with selfishness and ends with shame.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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.”
― Jose Rizal

“What said those two souls communicating through the language of the eyes, more perfect than that of the lips, the language given to the soul in order that sound may not mar the ecstasy of feeling? In such moments, when the thoughts of two happy beings penetrate into each other’s souls through the eyes, the spoken word is halting, rude, and weak—it is as the harsh, slow roar of the thunder compared with the rapidity of the dazzling lightning flash, expressing feelings already recognized, ideas already understood, and if words are made use of it is only because the heart’s desire, dominating all the being and flooding it with happiness, wills that the whole human organism with all its physical and psychical powers give expression to the song of joy that rolls through the soul. 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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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.”
― José Rizal

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“Walang mang-aalipin kung walang paaalipin.”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“There are no tyrants if there are no slaves”
― José Rizal

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“To be happy does not mean to indulge in foolishness!”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“It is not the criminals who arouse the hatred of others, but the men who are honest.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“Walang maitutugon ang wika sa tanong ng pag-ibig buhat sa isang sulyap na kumikislap o palihim. Sa halip, sumasagot ang ngiti, ang halik, o ang bugtonghininga.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tangere

“Nalilimot ng bawat isa sa inyo na habang napag-iingatan ang isang bayan ang kaniyang wika, napag-iingatan din nito ang katibayan ng kaniyang paglaya, katulad ng pagpapanatili ng isang tao sa kaniyang kasarinlan, upang mapanatili niya ang kaniyang sariling paraan ng pag-iisip. Ang wika ang pag-iisip ng bayan.”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“The example could encourage others who only fear to start.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“Our young people think about nothing more than love affairs and pleasure. They spend more time attempting to seduce and dishonor young women than in thinking about their country's welfare. Our women, in order to take care of the house and family of God, forget their own. Our men limit their activities to vice and their heroics to shameful acts. Children wake up in a fog of routine, adolescents live out their best years without ideals, and their elders are sterile, and only serve to corrupt our young people by their example.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“Dying people don't need medicine, the ones who remain do.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“Napakatamis ng tubig at naiinom, bagaman lumulunod sa alak at serbesa at pumapatay sa apoy. Nagiging singaw ito kapag pinainitan; kapag naligalig, nagiging karagatan na minsan nang pumuksa sa sangkatauhan at yumanig sa dibdib ng mundo.”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“Let us not ask for miracles, let us not ask for concern with what is good for the country of him who comes as a stranger to make his fortune and leave afterwards.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“A lie among the stars
Is a comfortable lie.”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“Kapag may mga uban na po akong tulad ng sa inyo at ginugunita ang nakaraan at makita kong gumawa ako alang-alang sa sarili lamang, hindi ginhawa ang magagawa't nararapat gawin ukol sa bayang nagbigay sa akin ng lahat, ukol sa mga mamamayang tumutulong sa aking mabuhay, kapag nagkagayon po, magiging tinik sa akin ang bawat uban, at sa halip na ikaliwalhati ko'y dapat kong ikahiya.”
― José Rizal, El Filibusterismo

“Tomorrow at 7, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion. I am going to die with a tranquil conscience.”
― Jose Rizal

“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.”
― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

“On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart.”
― Jose Rizal