“If we could only learn to trust one another--Tagalogs trusting Ilokanos, Pampangos trusting Tagalogs. -The Cripple” — F. Sionil José Trust Copy Share Image
“Ubi boni, malum prosperat (Where good men are silent, evil prospers)” — F. Sionil José Evil Copy Share Image
“None will thank me for this, nor anyone will remember. -Istak” — F. Sionil José Gratitude Copy Share Image
“It is the heart which dictates, which rules, which lets us live and die.” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“Absences can also make one forget. Absence dulls the memory and banishes those who are precious from the mind.” — F. Sionil José Absence Copy Share Image
Always remember: the alleviation of poverty is never a political or economic issue - it is moral. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Of course, we are all egoists. Egoism is so much a part of our humanity. — F. Sionil Jose Egoism Copy Share Image
“There is nothing like the land you belong to claiming you back. But everywhere the earth is the same. -Old David” — F. Sionil José Nature Copy Share Image
“It was true then what Padre Jose had said, that there is evil in all of us, that only with faith and… — F. Sionil José Faith Copy Share Image
“Life is worth living really but only if we believe it is, if we believe further that life is eternal not because… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“I would like to see all this as a big joke that is being played upon us, but I have seen what… — F. Sionil José Comedy Copy Share Image
“And old Padre Jose telling him to read as much as he could for the world was open only to those who… — F. Sionil José Education Copy Share Image
We are shallow because we are 'mayabang,' ego driven, and do not have the humility to understand that we are only human,… — F. Sionil Jose Driven Copy Share Image
“In the end, the satisfaction which all of us seek, it seems, can come only from our discovering that we really have… — F. Sionil José Life Copy Share Image
You can't have integrity for breakfast, but try and keep it because it is perhaps the single most important word that defines… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“Literature suffers because writers give their books to colleagues who will then write glowing reviews or saccharine introductions.” — F. Sionil José Book Copy Share Image
“The bravest are usually those whom we do not know or hear about, those anonymous men who dig the trenches, who produce… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
I can't understand Urdu, Bahasa or Russian, but when the Pakistani Faiz, the Indonesian Rendra and the Russian Rosdentvensky declaim, I can… — F. Sionil Jose Audience Copy Share Image
“I believe in life, that it is sweet and that, for all its occasional bitterness, we-man, that is-are headed toward something better… — F. Sionil José Bitterness Copy Share Image
“But you must be sure of what you want the land for. And as for your tenants, if they don't own the… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
Indeed, the existence of class, of social hierarchy, is as old as man himself. It prevails in the jungle where strength determines… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Like so many poor Ilokanos, my grandparents left their village, for it could no longer sustain them. The Ilocos is a narrow… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Life is holy and it is for all of us. God's design, I cannot understand myself and I never will, but I… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“What do we do with mountains? For us who have lived most of our lives on monotonous level ground, mountains give indelible… — F. Sionil José Landscape Copy Share Image
“Virtue and wealth seldom go together. The greatest criminals are also the wealthiest men." -The Cripple” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
Ninoy Aquino was a friend; I knew his faults, which were outweighed by his virtues. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
I was a senior high school student at the Far Eastern University when the war with Japan broke out in 1941. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Literature - Eastern and Western - abounds with stories, myths, legends about the search for youth, for eternal life. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
In the end, religion teaches us to value truth, justice and freedom. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Poetry is emotion, passion, love, grief - everything that is human. It is not for zombies by zombies. — F. Sionil Jose Emotion Copy Share Image
“Who then lives? Who then triumphs when all others have succumbed?” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“No stranger can come battering down my door and say he brings me light. This I have within me. -Istak” — F. Sionil José Stranger Copy Share Image
What is needed in the theater, in fact for all our art forms, is a vibrant critical tradition. — F. Sionil Jose Actor Copy Share Image
Contemplation is a luxury of the middle class, the very rich. — F. Sionil Jose Class Copy Share Image
My reading of philosophy and history is desultory; I know so much and yet so little. — F. Sionil Jose History Copy Share Image
“Why do people betray their brothers and eventually themselves? -The Cripple” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
I do not want to be bored listening to music that is muffled and known only to the poet himself. — F. Sionil Jose Bored Copy Share Image
What most readers do not realize is that it takes a particular genius to write funny, to satirize. — F. Sionil Jose Books Copy Share Image
Time will come that all that we love, we will eventually lose, and all that we hate we will eventually face. — F. Sionil José Faces Copy Share Image
