“Indeed time has that ultimate capacity to render the passions of the past when recalled in the present as no more than… — F. Sionil José Time Copy Share Image
I have always admired teachers because teaching, like the priesthood, medicine and writing, is a vocation. You don't become a teacher because… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
All through history, a nation or a civilization's enduring glory is articulated by its mega constructions - the pyramids, the lofty cathedrals… — F. Sionil Jose Cathedrals Copy Share Image
Language as a communication tool is the primary element from which literature is created. Even in pre-literate societies, it exists as songs,… — F. Sionil Jose Books Copy Share Image
Cultural values are, in themselves, neutral as well as universal, and so much depends on how individuals or ethnic groups use them.… — F. Sionil Jose Climate Copy Share Image
You will find that our enemies are our own kin. It is they who betray us. So learn this most important lesson-in… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
This is the harsh truth about us: not only do Filipinos ignore books, literature - we do not understand how important the… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“I think that I was born on a day God was fast asleep. And whatever happened after my birth was nothing but… — F. Sionil José Ignorance Copy Share Image
Our appreciation of folk art will strengthen our identities, our pride in belonging to a community. People trained in the creative use… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
I write to please myself—of course, that is a given. But beyond this reach for pleasure, I know that I write for… — F. Sionil José Apathy Copy Share Image
The heart of the theater is the play itself, how it dramatizes life to make it meaningful entertainment. To achieve depth and… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“How many funerals had he attended, how many open graves had he seen, watched the coffins eased down, or sometimes just a… — F. Sionil José Coffins Copy Share Image
“I am a commuter, not between the city and the village, although I do this frequently; not between the inane idealism of… — F. Sionil Jose Identity Copy Share Image
Perhaps, this is what love has always been, whether it is for a woman of for a cause -- the readiness to… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“All her life, she was used to being pampered, to having everything she desired, but the things that she valued were never… — F. Sionil José Heart Copy Share Image
When you love someone, that love has no limit, no measure, because you know in your deepest being that when that love… — F. Sionil José Breathing Copy Share Image
The literary depiction of life and its moral dilemmas compel us to use our conscience, to make those infallible distinctions between right… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“Was he the epitome of virtue because he was poor? How had it been in the village? There was foul gossip and… — F. Sionil José Thinking About Others Copy Share Image
As artists, we must not go down to the level of the masa; we should bring them up, intellectualize our languages, create… — F. Sionil Jose Art Copy Share Image
Poetry, fiction as novels or short stories - these are autonomous as created by their authors. They should stand on their own,… — F. Sionil Jose Authors Copy Share Image
I can imagine the writers of China, England and France, crippled and unsure of themselves when they feel that the ghosts of… — F. Sionil Jose China Copy Share Image
Tourists as well as natives want to see cultural achievements - whether it's the Banaue Terraces, the old churches or museums. — F. Sionil Jose Achievements Copy Share Image
It was in the sugar hacienda in Negros, Panay and in Central Luzon where I saw the injustices heaped upon the sugar… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
Some lucky people can be funny without half trying because they actually look funny, because acting funny is in their bones -… — F. Sionil Jose Acting Copy Share Image
Art, whatever form it takes, requires hard work, craftsmanship and creativity. As a writer, I know my grammar, cadence, the music of… — F. Sionil Jose Art Copy Share Image
Colonialism subdues in many dulcet guises. It conquered under the pretext of spreading Christianity, civilization, law and order, to make the world… — F. Sionil Jose Christianity Copy Share Image
The Japanese bureaucracy is unique. It is also very powerful, although it is now the object of so much criticism. Many of… — F. Sionil José Bureaucracy Copy Share Image
“All I can look after is my own farm, serve those who seek when they are sick. I have children to look… — F. Sionil José Children Copy Share Image
Professional societies are sooner or later fractured by the ego of their leaders. Everyone wants to be president, chairman, CEO; no one… — F. Sionil Jose Ceo Copy Share Image
“...the mind can also be kind and does blot out those episodes of our existence that we can't erase in our consciousness.” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
I wish I could be honest and true, but truth as I see it is not something abstract, a pious generality---It is… — F. Sionil José Abstract Copy Share Image
I was born in an Ilokano village called Cabugawan. Most of the houses in it were roofed with thatch, pan-aw, a species… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
The Japanese covet important symbols - their heroic past as enshrined in Yasukuni, the Imperial family which has never been sullied by… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“There is a great promise for our cultural growth, but this promise is achieved only when our artists recognize that all great… — F. Sionil Jose Art Copy Share Image
In the '50s, I was traveling alone all over Mindanao, Basilan, all the way to Tawi-Tawi with just a camera and a… — F. Sionil Jose Alone Copy Share Image
“So honesty then and service are rewarded by banishment and people sell themselves without so much ado because they have no beliefs--only… — F. Sionil José Banishment Copy Share Image
“I did not hesitate to tell them that I not only had the authority of facts, but that it was my conviction… — F. Sionil José Conviction Copy Share Image
“But when a person commits suicide, he does not do violence only to himself; he inflicts death upon those whom he least… — F. Sionil José Death Copy Share Image
Industrialization starts with the formation of capital - it does not matter how. It can be created by saving, by the state… — F. Sionil Jose Capital Copy Share Image
In the Western tradition, the first writers were teachers and historians, vastly traveled, who spiced their reports with fantasies. They were also… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
