Jose Marti Quotes

If I survive, I will spend my whole life at the oven door seeing that no one is denied bread and, so as to give a lesson of charity, especially those who did not bring flour. ~ Jose Marti

It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing. ~ Jose Marti

Books console us, calm us, prepare us, enrich us and redeem us. ~ Jose Marti

The first duty of a man is to think for himself ~ Jose Marti

Socialist ideology, like so many others, has two main dangers. One stems from confused and incomplete readings of foreign texts, and the other from the arrogance and hidden rage of those who, in order to climb up in the world, pretend to be frantic defenders of the helpless so as to have shoulders on which to stand. ~ Jose Marti

To use for our exclusive benefit what is not ours is theft. ~ Jose Marti

Let those who desire a secure homeland conquer it. Let those who do not conquer it live under the whip and in exile, watched over like wild animals, cast from one country to another, concealing the death of their souls with a beggar's smile from the scorn of free men. ~ Jose Marti

God is weeping. And how the people weep when they make God weep! ~ Jose Marti

Life on earth is hand-to-hand mortal combat ... between the law of love and the law of hate. ~ Jose Marti

Day and night I always dream with open eyes. ~ Jose Marti

All is beautiful and unceasing, all is music and reason , and all, like diamond, is carbon first, then light . ~ Jose Marti

Do something useful and you will have everything you want. Doors are shut for those who are dull and lazy; life is secure for those who obey the law of work. ~ Jose Marti

I have lived in the monster and I know its insides; and my sling is the sling of David . ~ Jose Marti

Charm is a product of the unexpected. ~ Jose Marti

My poems please the brave : My poems, short and sincere , Have the force of steel Which forges swords . ~ Jose Marti

To educate is to give man the keys to the world, which are independence and love, and to give him strength to journey on his own, light of step, a spontaneous and free being. ~ Jose Marti

Racist" is a confusing word, and it should be clarified. Men have no special rights simply because they belong to one race or another. When you say "men," you have already imbued them with all their rights. ~ Jose Marti

Mientras mas honda la herida,
Es mi canto mas hermoso.
While more deeper is the wound
The more beautiful the art. ~ Jose Marti

Only tyranny fears the full expression of liberty. ~ Jose Marti

But love, like the sun that it is, sets afire and melts everything. what greed and privilege to build up over whole centuries the indignation of a pious spirit, with its natural following of oppressed souls, will cast down with a single shove. ~ Jose Marti

Man can never be more perfect than the sun. The sun burns us with the same light that warms us. The sun has spots (stains). The ungrateful only talk about the spots (stains). The grateful talk about the light. ~ Jose Marti

We are free, but not to be evil, not to be indifferent to human suffering, not to profit from the people, from the work created and sustained through their spirit of political association, while refusing to contribute to the political state that we profit from. ~ Jose Marti

The force of passion is balanced by the force of interest. ~ Jose Marti

It is terrible to speak of you, Liberty, for one who lives without you. ~ Jose Marti

Terrible times in which priests no longer merit the praise of poets and in which poets have not yet begun to be priests. ~ Jose Marti

Treacherous assassins, enemies of the people, and worthy of everyone's ridicule are those who, under the pretext of guiding future generations, teach them an isolated system of doctrines and whisper in their ear (instead of the sweet message of love) the barbarous gospel of hate. ~ Jose Marti

Freedoms, like privileges, prevail or are imperiled together You cannot harm or strive to achieve one without harming or furthering all. ~ Jose Marti

He who does not see things in their depth should not call himself a radical. ~ Jose Marti

No fruit on earth can rival the cemetery's crop ~ Jose Marti

In this world, there must be a certain degree of honor just as there must be a certain amount of light. When there are many men without honor, there will always be some others who bear in themselves the honor of many men. ~ Jose Marti

Everything that divides men, everything that separates or herds men together in categories, is a sin against humanity. ~ Jose Marti

The only way to be totally free is through education. ~ Jose Marti

Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate. Action is the dignity of greatness. ~ Jose Marti

A poem is something sacred. Let no one Take it for anything except itself. ~ Jose Marti

Man needs to suffer. When he does not have real griefs he creates them. ~ Jose Marti

The truthe wakes up once and never dies. ~ Jose Marti

Nature has placed the need to see justice done in some souls, and the need to flout and affront it in others. ~ Jose Marti

Culture, which makes talent shine, is not completely ours either, nor can we place it solely at our disposal. Rather, it belongs mainly to our country, which gave it to us, and to humanity, from which we receive it as a birthright. ~ Jose Marti

To Educate is to Free. ~ Jose Marti

To busy oneself with what is futile when one can do something useful, to attend to what is simple when one has the mettle to attempt what is difficult, is to strip talent of its dignity. ~ Jose Marti

We are free, but no to be evil ~ Jose Marti

He who receives money in trust to administer for the benefit of its owner, and uses it either for his own interest or against the wishes of its rightful owner, is a thief. ~ Jose Marti

A knowledge of different literatures is the best way to free one's self from the tyranny of any of them. ~ Jose Marti

Sane love, is not love ~ Jose Marti

He who could have been a torch and stoops to being a pair of jaws is a deserter. ~ Jose Marti

Man needs to go outside himself in order to find repose and reveal himself. ~ Jose Marti

In truth, men speak too much of danger. ~ Jose Marti

Men are like the stars; some generate their own light while others reflect the brilliance they receive. ~ Jose Marti

Love is born with the pleasure of looking at each other

Is fed with the necessity of seeing each other

It is concluded with the impossibility of separation. ~ Alisa Valdes

A child, from the time he can think, should think about all he sees, should suffer for all who cannot live with honesty, should work so that all men can be honest, and should be honest himself. ~ Jose Marti

Every human being has within him an ideal man, just as every piece of marble contains in a rough state a statue as beautiful as the one that Praxiteles the Greek made of the god Apollo. ~ Jose Marti

Yet God does exist in the idea of good, which watches over the birth of every being and leaves in the soul embodied in that being one pure tear. Good is God, and the tear the source of eternal feeling. ~ Jose Marti

The dagger plunged in the name of freedom is plunged into the breast of freedom. ~ Jose Marti

A child who does not think about what happens around him and is content with living without wondering whether he lives honestly is like a man who lives from a scoundrel's work and is on the road to being a scoundrel. ~ Jose Marti

I come from all places and to all places I go: I am art among the arts and mountain among mountains. I know the strange names of flowers and herbs and of fatal deceptions and magnificent griefs. In night's darkness I've seen raining down on my head pure flames, flashing rays of beauty divine. ~ Jose Marti

But when women are moved and lend help, when women, who are by nature calm and controlled, give encouragement and applause, when virtuous and knowledgeable women grace the endeavor with their sweet love, then it is invincible. ~ Jose Marti

The wretch who lives without freedom feels like dressing in the mud from the streets Those who have you, o Liberty, do not know. you. Those who do not have you should not speak of you, but win you. ~ Jose Marti

Habit creates the appearance of justice; progress has no greater enemy than habit. ~ Jose Marti

Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them. ~ Jose Marti

Only oppression should fear the full exercise of freedom. ~ Jose Marti

To give one's life is a right only when one gives it unselfishly. ~ Jose Marti

Fortunately, there is a sane equilibrium in the character of nations, as there is in that of men. ~ Jose Marti

Men of action, above all those whose actions are guided by love, live forever. ~ Jose Marti

Rights are to be taken, not requested; seized, not begged for. ~ Jose Marti

Like bones to the human body, the axle to the wheel, the wing to the bird, and the air to the wing, so is liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect. ~ Jose Marti

The vote is a trust more delicate than any other, for it involves not just the interests of the voter, but his life, honor and future as well. ~ Jose Marti

People can only be free if they are truly educated. ~ Jose Marti

Man is a living duty, a depository of powers that he must not leave in a brute state. Man is a wing. ~ Jose Marti

To change masters is not to be free. ~ Jose Marti

Man has to suffer. When he has no real afflictions, he invents some. ~ Jose Marti

Peoples are made of hate and of love, and more of hate than love. ~ Jose Marti

An insatiable appetite for glory leads to sacrifice and death, but innate instinct leads to self-preservation and life. ~ Jose Marti

Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity. ~ Jose Marti

You have the bravest heart I've ever known
You have the strongest will I've seen
With every step forward that you take
you touch my soul
With every new breath you will succeed

A soul like an angel
With strength from above
Someone who understands a pain this deep
But never gives up

Fierce as a hawk
Gentle as a dove
You never walk alone again my friend
You're surrounded by love

You've already won every future race
Even before they have begun
It doesn't matter where you'll place.
You already proved that you're a world-class champion
Life, cycle, swim or run.

You have the bravest heart I've ever known
You have the strongest will I've seen
With every step forward that you take you touch my soul
With every new breath you will succeed.

A soul like an angel
With strength from above
Someone who understands a pain this deep
But never gives up

I need a heart that is finding
I need a voice that speaks the truth
I need a spirit that can lift my soul
I need someone like you

I need a spirit that is shining
Someone who can move my world
Someone who knows just what to do
I need a soul that is always on my side
I need someone like... you. ~ Jose N Harris

The flip-flap of Carmen's slippers could be heard out in the corridor, an aggressive sound, more eloquent than any words. ~ Jose Saramago

At first we got along real well. Now ... it's pretty much just a professional relationship. ~ Jose Carreras

I have observed that the prosperity or misery of each people is in direct proportion to its liberties or its prejudices and, accordingly, to the sacrifices or the selfishness of its forefathers. -Juan Crisostomo Ibarra ~ Jose Rizal

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. ~ F. Sionil Jose

The multiverse model offers an elegantly postmodern solution to character stasis in a market-driven serial publishing system which privileges constancy over major change. ~ Jose Alaniz

Love is that splendid triggering of human vitality the supreme activity which nature affords anyone for going out of himself toward someone else. ~ Jose Ortega Y Gasset

Religion, in refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime imputed to you; the government, in surrounding your case with mystery and shadow, gives reason for belief in some error, committed in fatal moments; and all the Philippines, in venerating your memory and calling you martyrs, in no way acknowledges your guilt. ~ Jose Rizal

They say God chooses the weak & foolish things to confound the wise. Don't let these weak, foolish men sell you a dream, they're good at telling lies. ~ Jose R. Coronado

Perhaps it's more merciful to forget the dead instead of remembering them. ~ Jose Bergamin

Esteban took a step backwards and took his sweatshirt off. He folded it and placed it on the ground next to the wall. He looked like a matador preparing for a bullfight. I opened my mouth and almost said something ... ~ Jose N Harris

This is the grand strategy of satan in today's modern world - to make man believe that he does not exist. Christians therefore never put up a fight or any form of defense against him. Many even end up blaming God for their miseries unaware of the hidden enemy striking them in the many areas of their lives. ~ Jose Francisco C. Syquia

I was employed as a salesman, selling a marvelous tea that could cure all ills. Funny, don't you think? I have never lied so much in my life, I traveled all over the country, selling my miraculous tea to whoever would believe me. I never felt guilty about it. The tea didn't do any harm, I can assure you, and my words gave such hope to those who bought it that I reckon they might still owe me money, because hope is beyond price. ~ Jose Saramago

Wealth brings with it refinement, the spirit of conservation, while poverty inspires adventurous ideas, the desire to change things, and has little care for life. ~ Jose Rizal

Experience was something it was difficult to avoid, though many people had managed to keep it to a minimum. ~ Philip Jose Farmer

The characters tell their story - I am merely the tool used to record it ~ Marti Melville

The only time we can talk about death is while we're alive, not afterwards. ~ Jose Saramago

It just isn't possible for you to ask me all the questions, or for me to give you all the answers. ~ Jose Saramago

Between madness and sanity, there is a shifting boundary. It is impossible to explain. Time slows down and you have to try to fill it. You don't have anything but solitude. ~ Jose Mujica

It is an unwavering rule for those in power that, when it comes to heads, it is best to cut them off before they start thinking, afterwards, it might be too late. ~ Jose Saramago

It was in the sugar hacienda in Negros, Panay and in Central Luzon where I saw the injustices heaped upon the sugar workers, particularly the sacadas, or seasonal workers. ~ F. Sionil Jose

I was shocked at the revelation of her vaulting ambition, her greed. I should have loathed her or, knowing what kind of a person she was, I should have realized the futility of any personal attachment, the impossibility of its maturing into something warm, human enduring. By then, I had known a bit of the prostitute's psychology, the ruthlessness which marked her relationship with men,
but I ignored these. ~ F. Sionil Jose

Gate C22

At gate C22 in the Portland airport
a man in a broad-band leather hat kissed
a woman arriving from Orange County.
They kissed and kissed and kissed. Long after
the other passengers clicked the handles of their carry-ons
and wheeled briskly toward short-term parking,
the couple stood there, arms wrapped around each other
like he'd just staggered off the boat at Ellis Island,
like she'd been released at last from ICU, snapped
out of a coma, survived bone cancer, made it down
from Annapurna in only the clothes she was wearing.

Neither of them was young. His beard was gray.
She carried a few extra pounds you could imagine
her saying she had to lose. But they kissed lavish
kisses like the ocean in the early morning,
the way it gathers and swells, sucking
each rock under, swallowing it
again and again. We were all watching–
passengers waiting for the delayed flight
to San Jose, the stewardesses, the pilots,
the aproned woman icing Cinnabons, the man selling
sunglasses. We couldn't look away. We could
taste the kisses crushed in our mouths.

But the best part was his face. When he drew back
and looked at her, his smile soft with wonder, almost
as though he were a mother still open from giving birth,
as your mother must have looked at you, no matter
what happened after–if she beat you or left you ~ Ellen Bass

So much time too little interest ~ Jose Martinez

I listened to all the Misfits albums growing up and Red Hot Chili Peppers, too. ~ Jose Gonzalez

How can we build trust among our own people? How can we make them confident of themselves and their countrymen so that they will not sell their souls for a few silver dollars?
-The Cripple ~ F. Sionil Jose

It's normal not to know. We always have some idea about things we don't know; but that doesn't mean we know them any better - Van Tysh ~ Jose Carlos Somoza