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" 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. "
F. Sionil Jose
Camera
Over
Alone
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" All through history, a nation or a civilization's enduring glory is articulated by its mega constructions - the pyramids, the lofty cathedrals of the Christian world. "
F. Sionil Jose
World
History
Christian
" We recognize the distinctness of Asian art when we turn to its traditional forms, recognize it as Japanese, Chinese and Indian, even Balinese or Thai. "
F. Sionil Jose
Indian
Chinese
Art
" Indeed, the existence of class, of social hierarchy, is as old as man himself. It prevails in the jungle where strength determines hierarchy; among men, it has also been savagely the same, whereby rulers vested with power through personal combat, or through lineal heritage as in the case of royalty, ravage their subjects. "
F. Sionil Jose
Power
Strength
Men
" I was born in an Ilokano village called Cabugawan. Most of the houses in it were roofed with thatch, pan-aw, a species of wild grass. "
F. Sionil Jose
Village
Grass
Houses
" I find it always pleasurable talking with young people, particularly those aspiring to be writers, out of nostalgia, and because I've always felt that we oldies can learn so much from them and draw from them inspiration in our flagging and rickety years. "
F. Sionil Jose
Talking
Find
Learn
" Writing is a solitary profession; you are really alone when you write. Then the emotions become well shaped and distinct. But their transition into words must be done deliberately and with rigid artistry. "
F. Sionil Jose
Emotions
Alone
Words
" Industrialization starts with the formation of capital - it does not matter how. It can be created by saving, by the state enforcing its will on the people, by the very rich themselves. "
F. Sionil Jose
Saving
Will
Rich
" In a much larger sense, the problem of Sabah is directly influenced by the duplicity of imperial Britain. For whatever devious reason, the dismantling of the British empire created divisions and violence due to ethnic and religious differences. "
F. Sionil Jose
Reason
Violence
Problem
" You should live in a manner that should enable you to devote time to writing and contemplation. As is often said, the writer is at work even when he is simply looking out the window. "
F. Sionil Jose
Looking
Live
Time
" Always remember: the alleviation of poverty is never a political or economic issue - it is moral. "
F. Sionil Jose
Political
Remember
Poverty
" At 86, I can easily look back to the last eight decades. Though memory often fails me now, so many images of the past are still clearly polished, and I can yet recall not just an abiding sense of place, but the keen smells, the sensory responses to the events of that past. "
F. Sionil Jose
Look
Past
Me
" All dictators, the rich and famous, to the lowest security guard who holds a gun, easily forget that power is transitory. "
F. Sionil Jose
Gun
Famous
Who
" Literature - Eastern and Western - abounds with stories, myths, legends about the search for youth, for eternal life. "
F. Sionil Jose
Youth
Literature
Search
" I regret that I have not written more, shouted louder, and acted out my beliefs. "
F. Sionil Jose
Regret
Out
More
" Class - or the economic status of individuals - is evident in all societies, some very well stratified by a rigid caste system determined by birth. "
F. Sionil Jose
Class
Birth
Economic
" We must know our own roles. We should also know the roles that others play, and the rules such roles follow. In this manner, social harmony is maintained. It is when we overstep our roles, or act without knowing them, that social anarchy ensues. "
F. Sionil Jose
Know
Rules
Anarchy
" Poetry is emotion, passion, love, grief - everything that is human. It is not for zombies by zombies. "
F. Sionil Jose
Emotion
Grief
Love
" I was a senior high school student at the Far Eastern University when the war with Japan broke out in 1941. "
F. Sionil Jose
War
Student
School
" As artists, we must not go down to the level of the masa; we should bring them up, intellectualize our languages, create classics out of our folk arts. We can do this if we are true to our roots and strive for excellence. "
F. Sionil Jose
True
Roots
Excellence
" What most readers do not realize is that it takes a particular genius to write funny, to satirize. "
F. Sionil Jose
Realize
Write
Funny
" From antiquity, Latin died but is still studied in seminaries and elite universities. So did Sanskrit in Asia. iI was replaced by Pali, but even Pali died, too. Linguists say the only ancient language which was resuscitated from the grave was Hebrew of Israel. "
F. Sionil Jose
Say
Asia
Only
" For them who delay aging, who infuse decrepit bodies with youth and beauty - they must rejoice in the fullness of their deeds. "
F. Sionil Jose
Who
Delay
Beauty
" Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have my eyebags removed, the deepening creases on my face stretched. I often examined my face in the mirror, imagining how I'd look if I followed the suggestion. I decided to retain the old mug. I was too familiar and comfortable with it. And the final hindrance: the cost. "
F. Sionil Jose
Look
Age
Past
" Cultural values are, in themselves, neutral as well as universal, and so much depends on how individuals or ethnic groups use them. Values are influenced by so many factors such as geography, climate, religion, the economy and technology. "
F. Sionil Jose
Technology
Religion
Values
" You perhaps know me as a novelist. Literature is one of the arts - in fact, the noblest of the arts. That is not my opinion; it was first expressed by the ancients. As art, literature has many similarities with the other art forms. "
F. Sionil Jose
Literature
Opinion
You
" In the visual arts, particularly painting, I distrust all those abstractions, those artificial constructions. I have a very simple way of judging them: if I can do them, they are not art. "
F. Sionil Jose
Art
I Can
Simple
" This is the harsh truth about us: not only do Filipinos ignore books, literature - we do not understand how important the arts are - not just to those of us who work at it, but to the nation as a whole. "
F. Sionil Jose
Truth
Work
Ignore
" I write entirely in English; Tagalog chauvinists chide me for this. I feel no guilt in doing so. But I am sad that I cannot write in my native Ilokano. History demanded this; if it isn't English I am using now, I would most probably be writing in Spanish like Rizal, or even German or Japanese. "
F. Sionil Jose
I Am
Doing
History
" 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
Harvest
Cool
Glow
" I have always admired teachers because teaching, like the priesthood, medicine and writing, is a vocation. You don't become a teacher because you want wealth. It is the same with writing. "
F. Sionil Jose
You
Medicine
Teacher