F. Sionil José is a Filipino writer, best known for his Rosales Saga, a series of five novels that chronicle the history of a Filipino family over several generations. His works often explore the social and political issues of his native country, and he is considered one of the most important writers in the Philippines. He is also a National Artist of the Philippines, awarded in 2001.
What is the most famous quote by F. Sionil José ?
We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it.
— F. Sionil José
What can you learn from F. Sionil José (Life Lessons)
F. Sionil José is a Filipino writer who has written extensively on the social and political issues of his native country. His works illustrate the importance of standing up for justice and equality in the face of oppression and exploitation. Through his stories, he encourages readers to think critically about the world around them and to strive for a better future for all.
The most off-limits F. Sionil José quotes that may be undiscovered and unusual
Following is a list of the best F. Sionil José quotes, including various F. Sionil José inspirational quotes, and other famous sayings by F. Sionil José.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Philosophical quotes by F. Sionil José
Our appreciation of folk art will strengthen our identities, our pride in belonging to a community. People trained in the creative use of their hands soon acquire skills, excellent craftsmanship which will be the most important measure of how well we can industrialize.
Time will come that all that we love, we will eventually lose, and all that we hate we will eventually face.
I believe in humanity - not just you or Mother, but all mankind.
Do I sound like a preacher or a cheap politician making a pretty speech? This is not what I intend to do... I believe in life, that it is sweet and that, for all its occasional bitterness, we-man, that is-are headed toward something better - fulfillment. There is much shame, however, and so much hypocrisy around us and these inhibit our fulfillment as human beings.
When I wake up every morning, I thank God for the new day.
November is auspicious in so many parts of the country: the rice harvest is already in, the weather starts to cool, and the festive glow which precedes Christmas has began to brighten the landscape.
Perhaps, this is what love has always been, whether it is for a woman of for a cause -- the readiness to give and not ask for anything in return, the unquestioning willingness to lose everything, even if that loss is as something as precious as life itself.
We read because they teach us about people, we can see ourselves in them,in their problems.And by seeing ourselves in them, we clarify ourselves, we explain ourselves to ourselves, so we can live with ourselves.
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.
Quotations by F. Sionil José that are provocative and realistic
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.
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.
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
Of course, we are all egoists. Egoism is so much a part of our humanity.
I do not want to be bored listening to music that is muffled and known only to the poet himself.
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.