If the Philippines must remain under the control of Spain, they will necessarily have to be transformed in a political sense, for the course of their history and the needs of their inhabitants so require.
Jose RizalRead
When there is in nature no fixed condition, how much less must there be in the life of a people, beings endowed with mobility and movement!
Interpretation
Change is inherent in both nature and human life, highlighting the fluidity of existence.
In this quote, Jose Rizal emphasizes the idea that just as nature is characterized by constant change and lack of fixed conditions, so too is the life of people. This serves as a reminder that adaptability and an understanding of life's fluidity are essential for individuals and societies to thrive in a world that is always in motion.
In practice
In a discussion about the unpredictability of life, this quote can serve as a profound reminder.
If the Philippines must remain under the control of Spain, they will necessarily have to be transformed in a political sense, for the course of their history and the needs of their inhabitants so require.
I do not write for this generation. I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: 'Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents.'
It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.
Necessity is the most powerful divinity the world knows – it is the result of physical forces set in operation by ethical forces.
I may be what my enemies desire me to be, yet never an accusation are they able to hurl against me which makes me blush or lower my forehead; and I hope that God will be merciful enough with me, to prevent me from committing one of those faults which would involve my family.
To the questioning glance of love, as it flashes out and then conceals itself, speech has no reply; the smile, the kiss, the sigh answer.
When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.
It will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation.
If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.
Memory does not make films, it makes photographs.
My principle anguish and the source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh.
He had a better mind and a more rigorous temperament than me; he thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it. And call the result common sense.
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