Sionil Jose Quotes & Sayings

We are shallow because we have become enslaved by gross materialism, the glitter of gold and its equivalents, for which reason we think that only the material goods of this earth can satisfy us and we must therefore grab as much as can while we are able. — F. Sionil Jose

In a world grown dark with deceit there there are many who are blinded and few who can hold up a light so that we can see the way. More important, so that we can look at ourselves, as well as others, and know how similar we are to the herd. — F. Sionil Jose

For them who delay aging, who infuse decrepit bodies with youth and beauty - they must rejoice in the fullness of their deeds. — F. Sionil Jose

My reading of philosophy and history is desultory; I know so much and yet so little. — F. Sionil Jose

Don Jacinto did not reply; perhaps he understood that there was no measure for love of country except in sacrifice, and why ask the poor for more sacrifices? It was the comfortable, the rich like himself
although Istak did not put it this way
who should express it with their wealth. The poor had only their lives to give.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

When I wake up every morning, I thank God for the new day. — F. Sionil Jose

The bravest are usually those whom we do not know or hear about, those anonymous men who dig the trenches, who produce the food. — F. Sionil Jose

At 86, I can easily look back to the last eight decades. Though memory often fails me now, so many images of the past are still clearly polished, and I can yet recall not just an abiding sense of place, but the keen smells, the sensory responses to the events of that past. — F. Sionil Jose

In the '50s, I was traveling alone all over Mindanao, Basilan, all the way to Tawi-Tawi with just a camera and a notebook. I always stayed in the houses of Moros. — F. Sionil Jose

Tourists as well as natives want to see cultural achievements - whether it's the Banaue Terraces, the old churches or museums. — F. Sionil Jose

But you must be sure of what you want the land for. And as for your tenants, if they don't own the land, don't expect them to make sacrifices. It never works, you know. Besides, the transition shouldn't create dislocations. It isn't easy to shift from agriculture to industry. — F. Sionil Jose

I regret that I have not written more, shouted louder, and acted out my beliefs. — F. Sionil Jose

I was shocked at the revelation of her vaulting ambition, her greed. I should have loathed her or, knowing what kind of a person she was, I should have realized the futility of any personal attachment, the impossibility of its maturing into something warm, human enduring. By then, I had known a bit of the prostitute's psychology, the ruthlessness which marked her relationship with men,
but I ignored these. — F. Sionil Jose

Industrialization starts with the formation of capital - it does not matter how. It can be created by saving, by the state enforcing its will on the people, by the very rich themselves. — F. Sionil Jose

We go from one darkness to another and in between, the hidden light of the world, of knowledge. We open our eyes and in this circle of light, we see not just ourselves but others who are our likenesses. This light tells us all men are brothers, but even brothers kill one another, and it is in this light where all this happens. But living in this dazzling light does not blind us to what lies beyond the darkness from where we emerged and where we are going. It is faith which makes our journey possible though it be marred by the unkindness of men, their eternal faulting, before we pass on to another darkness. — F. Sionil Jose

Cultural values are, in themselves, neutral as well as universal, and so much depends on how individuals or ethnic groups use them. Values are influenced by so many factors such as geography, climate, religion, the economy and technology. — F. Sionil Jose

Time will come that all that we love, we will eventually lose, and all that we hate we will eventually face. — F. Sionil Jose

I tell young people who ask me about a future in writing not to go into it unless they get married to someone rich. — F. Sionil Jose

Japan is very cosmopolitan - it values its origins, but a world view hovers above this narrow perspective. The interest of the Japanese in their folk culture is transcendental. — F. Sionil Jose

It is the heart which dictates, which rules, which lets us live and die. — F. Sionil Jose

A virtuoso performance. Scott Thompson's biography of the soldier statesman Fidel V. Ramos illustrates the fascinating and complex geography of Filipino politics and its relation with the American hegemon. It's first-rate scholarship and equally first-rate writing. — F. Sionil Jose

I can't understand Urdu, Bahasa or Russian, but when the Pakistani Faiz, the Indonesian Rendra and the Russian Rosdentvensky declaim, I can feel the living throb of rhythm and music, the warmth and passion of their poetry, as do the hundreds, not a mere roomful, of poetry lovers in the audience. — F. Sionil Jose

Self-respect, the value of 'face,' is universal but is most pronounced in China, then in Japan where the Confucian ethic is most influential. — F. Sionil Jose

When you love someone, that love has no limit, no measure, because you know in your deepest being that when that love demands sacrifice, you will give it without question. You will not look for reasons, for justification - the act of giving, of sacrificing, is a natural compulsion, like breathing, and it will, in the end, surprise you because you did it without second thoughts. — F. Sionil Jose

I think that I was born on a day God was fast asleep. And whatever happened after my birth was nothing but dreamless ignorance. — F. Sionil Jose

Life is holy and it is for all of us. God's design, I cannot understand myself and I never will, but I do know that what we are experiencing now will pass and in the end we will all be brothers, not just blood brothers, as we are, but brothers in spirit. Neither you nor I can change the world or human nature and we can only aim at changing attitudes - and perhaps teach those who have so much to give a portion of their blessings to those who have less. — F. Sionil Jose

This was one lesson that the war taught me - that every event in time presents opportunities that are recognizable only to those with enough sensibility to see them, that it is possible to thrive in adversity in the needs of the rulers are pandered to. — F. Sionil Jose

How many funerals had he attended, how many open graves had he seen, watched the coffins eased down, or sometimes just a frayed mat in which the corpse was bundled, the feet sticking out, the soles white and sometimes still specked with dirt if he was a farmer and could not afford slippers, least of all shoes.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

I am a commuter, not between the city and the village, although I do this frequently; not between the inane idealism of the classroom and the stifling reality beyond it, which I must do for survival and self-respect. I am a commuter between what I am now and what I was and would like to be and it is this commuting at lightning speed, at the oddest hours, that has done havoc to me. — F. Sionil Jose

I wish I could be honest and true, but truth as I see it is not something abstract, a pious generality
It is justice at work, righteous, demanding, disciplined, sincere and unswerving; otherwise, it is not, it cannot be truth at all. — F. Sionil Jose

Conquest by force is not sanctioned by God. The Americans have no right to be here. We will defeat them because we believe that this land they usurp is ours; God created it for us. The whole history of mankind has shown how faith endures while steel rusts.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

Writing is a solitary profession; you are really alone when you write. Then the emotions become well shaped and distinct. But their transition into words must be done deliberately and with rigid artistry. — F. Sionil Jose

Colonialism subdues in many dulcet guises. It conquered under the pretext of spreading Christianity, civilization, law and order, to make the world safe for democracy. — F. Sionil Jose

I write entirely in English; Tagalog chauvinists chide me for this. I feel no guilt in doing so. But I am sad that I cannot write in my native Ilokano. History demanded this; if it isn't English I am using now, I would most probably be writing in Spanish like Rizal, or even German or Japanese. — F. Sionil Jose

Literature suffers because writers give their books to colleagues who will then write glowing reviews or saccharine introductions. — F. Sionil Jose

The obscenities of this country are not girls like you. It is the poverty which is obscene, and the criminal irresponsibility of the leaders who make this poverty a deadening reality. The obscenities in this country are the places of the rich, the new hotels made at the expense of the people, the hospitals where the poor die when they get sick because they don't have the money either for medicines or services. It is only in this light that the real definition of obscenity should be made. — F. Sionil Jose

To fund major cultural efforts, we must not rely alone on government and foundation patronage; if the farmer can spend for beer, he can pay for good entertainment which he can understand, which he can identify with and which will fortify his spirit. — F. Sionil Jose

Indeed, the existence of class, of social hierarchy, is as old as man himself. It prevails in the jungle where strength determines hierarchy; among men, it has also been savagely the same, whereby rulers vested with power through personal combat, or through lineal heritage as in the case of royalty, ravage their subjects. — F. Sionil Jose

But when will Filipinas ever be free from its leaders who are wealthy and crooked, in whom we have put so much trust?
-The Cripple — F. Sionil Jose

No stranger can come battering down my door and say he brings me light. This I have within me.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

We must know our own roles. We should also know the roles that others play, and the rules such roles follow. In this manner, social harmony is maintained. It is when we overstep our roles, or act without knowing them, that social anarchy ensues. — F. Sionil Jose

Contemplation is a luxury of the middle class, the very rich. — F. Sionil Jose

The Japanese covet important symbols - their heroic past as enshrined in Yasukuni, the Imperial family which has never been sullied by scandal. — F. Sionil Jose

Sometimes we have to lie so that we do not needlessly hurt others. The important thing is that we are honest with ourselves. That we know how to bend without breaking ourselves. -Crepusculo Lepidoptera — F. Sionil Jose

A weak people and its equally debilitated leaders are bludgeoned by history. It maims them into the cripples that they are meant to be. — F. Sionil Jose

None will thank me for this, nor anyone will remember.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

If you loved someone for many years, you become instinctively aware of his feelings, even divine his thoughts and anticipate his actions, so that it would seem that you two have really become one. — F. Sionil Jose

Why do you butcher your carabao and feed a throng because your son is getting a wife?" Father always blustered to them who come asking for loans. But always, in the end, the tenants got the money
what they needed for a "decent" funeral, a baptism, a wedding. And as their debts piled up, they promised, "Next harvest will be good ... — F. Sionil Jose

As artists, we must not go down to the level of the masa; we should bring them up, intellectualize our languages, create classics out of our folk arts. We can do this if we are true to our roots and strive for excellence. — F. Sionil Jose

Life is always sad. That's what makes suicide so tempting because life is all that we really have and haven't. Death makes us equals, too, because the foul and the good all die. The past, the present, and the future-what escape is there from these? None-and yet sometimes we are life's happy victims. — F. Sionil Jose

I was a senior high school student at the Far Eastern University when the war with Japan broke out in 1941. — F. Sionil Jose

[Of the Bagos:] Like the Moros in the south, they are our brothers. We must recognize their belongingness to Filipinas, their willingness to fight for her.
-The Cripple — F. Sionil Jose

I said that if I were an industrialist or entrepreneur, I would invest in agriculture-based enterprises, for there is so much that can be done in manufacturing, in food preservation. — F. Sionil Jose

Now listen ... You are young and you don't know many things, but do remember this: you are alone in this earth. Alone. You must act for yourself and no other. Kindness is not appreciated anymore, nor friendship. Think of yourself before you think of others. It's a cruel world and you have to be hard and cruel, too. They will strangle you if you don't strangle them first. Trust no one but your judgment
and even then, don't trust too much. — F. Sionil Jose

You will be surprised how much punishment the human body can take, if there is enough will - or faith. — F. Sionil Jose

Was he the epitome of virtue because he was poor? How had it been in the village? There was foul gossip and cussedness anywhere in the world where small men had to think of their stomachs first before thinking about others.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

The ethnic differences among Filipinos are very real. The paucity of arable land, for instance, explains the industry of the Ilokanos and the Cebuanos. — F. Sionil Jose

I am for poetry that is admired by peasant and aristocrat alike. — F. Sionil Jose

Some lucky people can be funny without half trying because they actually look funny, because acting funny is in their bones - fun as funny, not funny as crude slapstick. — F. Sionil Jose

All her life, she was used to being pampered, to having everything she desired, but the things that she valued were never those that could be bought but those small tokens of truth and dogged fidelity which she, herself, could not give to anyone. — F. Sionil Jose

You should live in a manner that should enable you to devote time to writing and contemplation. As is often said, the writer is at work even when he is simply looking out the window. — F. Sionil Jose

Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have my eyebags removed, the deepening creases on my face stretched. I often examined my face in the mirror, imagining how I'd look if I followed the suggestion. I decided to retain the old mug. I was too familiar and comfortable with it. And the final hindrance: the cost. — F. Sionil Jose

I have been blinded, as many of us have been blinded by our needs. I had thought of only my family
this was the limit to my responsibility, and therefore, my vision.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

My wife and I often visit Rosales and the Ilokos as a matter of habit or whim induced by nostalgia, homesickness - whatever draws pilgrims to worshipped sanctuaries. Or, perhaps, what compels moths to seek the votive flame. — F. Sionil Jose

Just because you have so much to give does not mean that they'll all be accepted. There's more to giving than just giving. — F. Sionil Jose

I write to please myself - of course, that is a given. But beyond this reach for pleasure, I know that I write for my countrymen, that they may be lifted from apathy and ignorance. I write because of a compulsion to make something out of the nothing that is my own life. — F. Sionil Jose

The literary depiction of life and its moral dilemmas compel us to use our conscience, to make those infallible distinctions between right and wrong. — F. Sionil Jose

We must respect courage wherever we encounter it.
-Tom — F. Sionil Jose

Who then lives? Who then triumphs when all others have succumbed? — F. Sionil Jose

I can imagine the writers of China, England and France, crippled and unsure of themselves when they feel that the ghosts of Confucius, Mencius, Chaucer and Shakespeare and Victor Hugo are looking over their shoulders. — F. Sionil Jose

From antiquity, Latin died but is still studied in seminaries and elite universities. So did Sanskrit in Asia. iI was replaced by Pali, but even Pali died, too. Linguists say the only ancient language which was resuscitated from the grave was Hebrew of Israel. — F. Sionil Jose

Only with steadfast memories can we now be strong so as to undo the mistakes of the past, to begin anew and build from the rubble of their betrayal ... — F. Sionil Jose

I find it always pleasurable talking with young people, particularly those aspiring to be writers, out of nostalgia, and because I've always felt that we oldies can learn so much from them and draw from them inspiration in our flagging and rickety years. — F. Sionil Jose

So honesty then and service are rewarded by banishment and people sell themselves without so much ado because they have no beliefs
only a price. — F. Sionil Jose

Forgive those who are ignorant.
-Bit-tik — F. Sionil Jose

It is easy to forgive a person his faults when he is dead because in death, he atones for his sins somewhat before the eyes of people who are still living and who have yet to add more on the parchment where their sins are listed. — F. Sionil Jose

Literature - Eastern and Western - abounds with stories, myths, legends about the search for youth, for eternal life. — F. Sionil Jose

If we could only learn to trust one another
Tagalogs trusting Ilokanos, Pampangos trusting Tagalogs.
-The Cripple — F. Sionil Jose

To THOSE who want to lift this nation from the dungheap of history, the past does not matter - only the present, the awareness of the deadening rot which surrounds and suffocates us, and what we must do to vanquish it. — F. Sionil Jose

I do not want to be bored listening to music that is muffled and known only to the poet himself. — F. Sionil Jose

Like so many poor Ilokanos, my grandparents left their village, for it could no longer sustain them. The Ilocos is a narrow coastal plain where, so often, the mountain drops to the sea. Land hunger had always afflicted the Ilokanos and made them migratory. — F. Sionil Jose

We cannot be rooted in the past forever. We must not be sentimental. — F. Sionil Jose

Of course, we are all egoists. Egoism is so much a part of our humanity. — F. Sionil Jose

We compromise ourselves the day we are born. If we are looking for the original sin, there it is- our incapacity to live honestly with ourselves because we are human, because we are shackled by custom, by obligations and we accept compromise only in the light of our conscience, answerable as we are only to ourselves. — F. Sionil Jose

In a much larger sense, the problem of Sabah is directly influenced by the duplicity of imperial Britain. For whatever devious reason, the dismantling of the British empire created divisions and violence due to ethnic and religious differences. — F. Sionil Jose

Always remember: the alleviation of poverty is never a political or economic issue - it is moral. — F. Sionil Jose

Language as a communication tool is the primary element from which literature is created. Even in pre-literate societies, it exists as songs, riddles, or epics that are chanted. — F. Sionil Jose

I have always admired teachers because teaching, like the priesthood, medicine and writing, is a vocation. You don't become a teacher because you want wealth. It is the same with writing. — F. Sionil Jose

Writers are historians, too. It is in literature that the greater truths about a people and their past are found. — F. Sionil Jose

I wish I were not the me that I know, that I be some unfeeling hunk of plastic, designed to take all punishment but also durable and almost indestructible. — F. Sionil Jose

We will love her, protect her, all of us
Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilokano, so many islands, so many tribes
because if we act as one, we will be strong and so will she be. Alone you will fall prey to every marauder that passes by. I am not asking that you love Filipinas. I am asking that you do what is right, what is duty ...
-The Cripple — F. Sionil Jose

Virtue and wealth seldom go together. The greatest criminals are also the wealthiest men."
-The Cripple — F. Sionil Jose

We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it. — F. Sionil Jose

All I can look after is my own farm, serve those who seek when they are sick. I have children to look after so that they will not know what hunger is.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose

I was born in an Ilokano village called Cabugawan. Most of the houses in it were roofed with thatch, pan-aw, a species of wild grass. — F. Sionil Jose

We are shallow because we are 'mayabang,' ego driven, and do not have the humility to understand that we are only human, much too human to mistake knowledge for wisdom. — F. Sionil Jose

Professional societies are sooner or later fractured by the ego of their leaders. Everyone wants to be president, chairman, CEO; no one wants to be a mere follower. — F. Sionil Jose

In the end, the satisfaction which all of us seek, it seems, can come only from our discovering that we really have molded our life into whatever we want it to be. — F. Sionil Jose

A Man's suicide is the ultimate violence he can fling against the granite circumstance he could not vanquish. Its a lonely and desperate act of supreme courage, not weakness. But it is also an admission of total failure, and the destruction of the self is the end of one person's struggle, an end where from there would be no rebirth or resurrection-nothing but the blackness, the impenetrable muck the hides everything, sometimes even the reason for death itself. — F. Sionil Jose

But all men die
as anonymously as they had lived, no matter what their achievements.
-Istak — F. Sionil Jose