Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When I wake up every morning, I thank God for the new day.
Contemplation is a luxury of the middle class, the very rich.
I am for poetry that is admired by peasant and aristocrat alike.
In the end, religion teaches us to value truth, justice and freedom.
Of course, we are all egoists. Egoism is so much a part of our humanity.
I regret that I have not written more, shouted louder, and acted out my beliefs.
Ninoy Aquino was a friend; I knew his faults, which were outweighed by his virtues.
We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it.
What is needed in the theater, in fact for all our art forms, is a vibrant critical tradition.
I do not want to be bored listening to music that is muffled and known only to the poet himself.
Always remember: the alleviation of poverty is never a political or economic issue - it is moral.
What most readers do not realize is that it takes a particular genius to write funny, to satirize.
Poetry is emotion, passion, love, grief - everything that is human. It is not for zombies by zombies.
I was a senior high school student at the Far Eastern University when the war with Japan broke out in 1941.
Time will come that all that we love, we will eventually lose, and all that we hate we will eventually face.
Writers are historians, too. It is in literature that the greater truths about a people and their past are found.
I tell young people who ask me about a future in writing not to go into it unless they get married to someone rich.
Literature - Eastern and Western - abounds with stories, myths, legends about the search for youth, for eternal life.
All dictators, the rich and famous, to the lowest security guard who holds a gun, easily forget that power is transitory.
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.
Tourists as well as natives want to see cultural achievements - whether it's the Banaue Terraces, the old churches or museums.
For them who delay aging, who infuse decrepit bodies with youth and beauty - they must rejoice in the fullness of their deeds.
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.
A weak people and its equally debilitated leaders are bludgeoned by history. It maims them into the cripples that they are meant to be.
Self-respect, the value of 'face,' is universal but is most pronounced in China, then in Japan where the Confucian ethic is most influential.
The Japanese covet important symbols - their heroic past as enshrined in Yasukuni, the Imperial family which has never been sullied by scandal.
Class - or the economic status of individuals - is evident in all societies, some very well stratified by a rigid caste system determined by birth.
The past could liberate or imprison - it creates a nation's character, provides the nourishment or the poison a people imbibe in their very marrow.
The literary depiction of life and its moral dilemmas compel us to use our conscience, to make those infallible distinctions between right and wrong.
We recognize the distinctness of Asian art when we turn to its traditional forms, recognize it as Japanese, Chinese and Indian, even Balinese or Thai.
You will find that our enemies are our own kin. It is they who betray us. So learn this most important lesson-in the end, our worst enemy is ourselves
The ethnic differences among Filipinos are very real. The paucity of arable land, for instance, explains the industry of the Ilokanos and the Cebuanos.
No man stops caring as long as he breathes. As long as he has a mind and memory, he will care. This is what separates us from the animals. We have feelings.
Christianity doesn't demand that we worship our ancestors. If we don't remember our ancestors, then, in all likelihood, we cannot also recall the distant past.
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.
You can't have integrity for breakfast, but try and keep it because it is perhaps the single most important word that defines not just writers but all human beings.
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.
All through history, a nation or a civilization's enduring glory is articulated by its mega constructions - the pyramids, the lofty cathedrals of the Christian world.
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.
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.
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.
Art, whatever form it takes, requires hard work, craftsmanship and creativity. As a writer, I know my grammar, cadence, the music of prose, and the art of the narrative.
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.
It was in the sugar hacienda in Negros, Panay and in Central Luzon where I saw the injustices heaped upon the sugar workers, particularly the sacadas, or seasonal workers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Japanese bureaucracy is unique. It is also very powerful, although it is now the object of so much criticism. Many of Japans brightest made it a pillar of strength and continuity.
The Japanese bureaucracy is unique. It is also very powerful, although it is now the object of so much criticism. Many of Japan's brightest made it a pillar of strength and continuity.