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
Routine is a declivity down which many governments slide, and routine says that freedom of the press is dangerous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Routines can lead to complacency and restrict freedoms, particularly in governance where press freedom is essential.
In this quote, Jose Rizal warns against the dangers of routine in governance, suggesting that falling into habitual patterns can lead to a lack of critical thinking and an erosion of fundamental freedoms, like freedom of the press. He highlights how such routines can frame essential liberties as threats, thereby diminishing democratic values and stifling progress.
Themes
RoutineFreedomPressGovernmentDanger
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of freedom of the press in a democracy, this quote can reinforce the conversation.
More from Jose Rizal
All quotes →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.'
Jose RizalRead
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.
Jose RizalRead
Necessity is the most powerful divinity the world knows – it is the result of physical forces set in operation by ethical forces.
Jose RizalRead
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.
Jose RizalRead
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.
Jose RizalRead
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