José Rizal

;De nobis, post haec, tristis sententia fertur!:After all this, you still speak ill of us!

;Pure and spotless must the victim be if the sacrifice is to be acceptable.

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

;The school of suffering tempers the spirit, the arena of combat strengthens the soul.

;You must shatter the vase to spread its perfume, and smite the rock to get the spark.

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

;Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?

;There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.

Not all were asleep during the night of our forefathers!

Fate presented itself to some like a chinese fan--one side black, the other side gilded with flowers.

Believing in accidents is like believing in miracles--both presuppose that God does not know the future.

Fame to be sweet must resound in the ears of those we love, in the atmosphere of the land that will guard our ashes. Fame should hover over our tomb to warm with its heat the chill of death, so that we may not be completely reduced to …

Truth does not need to borrow garments from error. (Also translated as: Truth does not need to borrow garments from falsehood.)

I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land.You who have it to see, welcome it--and forget not those who have fallen during the night!

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

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.

It breaks immortality's neck Contemplates crime and therefore halts it; It humbles barbarous nations And makes of savages, champions.

The Filipino loves his country no less than the Spaniard does his, and although he is quieter, more peaceful and with more difficulty stirred up, once aroused he does not hesitate and for him the struggle means death to the finish. He has …

Necessity is the most powerful divinity the world knows--it is the result of physical forces set in operation by ethical forces.

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

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

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

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

Muse who in the past inspired me to sing of the throes of love: Go and repose. What I need is a sword, rivers of gold, and acrid prose.