I tell young people who ask me about a future in writing not to go into it unless they get married to… — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“Epidermis, epidermis! How could it mean so much, when underneath, all blood was red?” — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
“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
Writers are historians, too. It is in literature that the greater truths about a people and their past are found. — F. Sionil Jose Copy Share Image
“The Philippines just need 100 youth to stand up for their country” — F. Sionil José Philippines Copy Share Image
We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it. — F. Sionil José Books 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“Why do you butcher your carabao and feed a throng because your son is getting a wife?" Father always blustered to them… — F. Sionil José Marriage Copy Share Image
“Conquest by force is not sanctioned by God. The Americans have no right to be here. We will defeat them because we… — F. Sionil José Americans 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
“This was one lesson that the war taught me - that every event in time presents opportunities that are recognizable only to… — F. Sionil José Adversity Copy Share Image
We compromise ourselves the day we are born. If we are looking for the original sin, there it is- our incapacity to… — F. Sionil José Copy Share Image
To fund major cultural efforts, we must not rely alone on government and foundation patronage; if the farmer can spend for beer,… — F. Sionil Jose Alone Copy Share Image
“But all men die--as anonymously as they had lived, no matter what their achievements. -Istak” — F. Sionil José Achievements Copy Share Image
I regret that I have not written more, shouted louder, and acted out my beliefs. — F. Sionil Jose 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
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
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
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
