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.
For myself I think that one wrong does not right the other, and forgiveness cannot be won with useless tears or alms to the Church.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness cannot be achieved through superficial gestures or remorse, and one wrong deed cannot justify another.
In this quote, JosΓ© Rizal emphasizes the importance of genuine forgiveness and accountability. He argues that simply expressing sorrow or performing acts of charity is insufficient for true forgiveness, suggesting that healing and reconciliation require more profound understanding and actions that do not involve merely compensating for wrongs with tears or donations. True forgiveness demands sincerity and a commitment to rectify the circumstances rather than attempting to erase them with tokens of regret or goodwill.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on ethics, one might quote this to emphasize the need for genuine remorse.
More from Jose Rizal
All quotes βI 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 β 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.
Similar quotes
Your Highest Self is not just an idea that sounds lofty and spiritual. It is a way of being. It is the very first principle that you must come to understand and embrace as you move toward attracting to you that which you want and need for this parenthesis in eternity that you know as your life.
Crucially we haven't been figuring out how to live in oneness, with the Earth & every other living thing; we have just been insanely trying to figure out how to live with each other, billions of each other, only we're not living with each other our crazy selves are living with each other, and perpetuating an epidemic of disconnection.
One is almost tempted to say that the language itself is a mythology deprived of its vitality, a bloodless mythology so to speak, which has only preserved in a formal and abstract form what mythology contains in living and concrete form.
It's not a problem that we're sinners; it's a problem that we aren't ashamed of our sin and don't seek forgiveness.
Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.
While I've found many of the religious shows I've viewed over the years not to be to my liking, or in line with my own beliefs, I've never considered it my place to exert any greater type of censorship than changing the channel, or better yet - turning off the TV completely.