Jose Marti's Quotes

There is happiness in duty, although it may not seem so.

Just as he who gives his life to serve a great idea is admirable, he who avails himself of a great idea to serve his personal hopes of glory and power is abominable, even if he too risks his life.

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.

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.

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.

A selfish man is a thief.

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.

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.

Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.

A genuine man goes to the roots. To be a radical is no more than that: to go to the roots.

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

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.

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.

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

He who uses the office he owes to the voters wrongfully and against them is a thief.

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.

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

We light the oven so that everyone may bake bread in it.

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.

Talent is a gift that brings with it an obligation to serve the world, and not ourselves, for it is not of our making.

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.

Perhaps the enemies of liberty are such only because they judge it by its loud voice.

Charm is a product of the unexpected.

The struggles waged by nations are weak only when they lack support in the hearts of their women.

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.

Peoples are made of hate and of love, and more of hate than love.

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.

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

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.

Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.

A man who lives everywhere lives nowhere.

Be content to be what you are, and prefer nothing to it, and do not fear or wish for your last day.

Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.

Glory comes too late, after one as been reduced to ashes.

Glory paid to our ashes comes too late.

If fame is to come only after death, I am in no hurry for it.

There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are not a fool, you know what I wish for!