For in ever city these two opposing parties are to be found, arising from the desire of the populace to avoid the oppression of the great, and the desire of the great to command and oppress the people…  He who becomes prince by help of the nobility has greater difficulty in maintaining his power than he who is raised by the populace, for he is surrounded by those who think themselves his equals, and us thus unable to direst or command as he pleases.  But one who is raised to leadership by popular favor finds himself alone, and has no one, or very few, who are not ready to obey him.

The greatness of a ruler lies in his ability to exercise restraint in the use of tremendous power.  The essence of a democrat consists of the patience to secure his wishes through the complex machinery of the system of checks and balances which is the indispensible life-blood of the democratic system and not through the expidiency of crushing all opposition.

A lot of our people who belong to the best elements will have nothing to do with politics because they believe it is dirty.

I love deadlines.

In the time of the Commonwealth, when my father was very young, it always took place on January first, since January 1 is the feast -or saint’s- day of people named Manuel (my father and I always greet edeach other “happy feast-day!”

…My father wrote this letter to me on Jan. 13, 1987, and it marks, perhaps, the Last Hurrah of the Old, pre-Martial Law, Society: In fact it was the first time my father and many members of the other presidential families had entered the palace since before Martial Law.

…For the first time, perhaps since 1946, all the Presidential families were present -Doña Trining and Ruby Roxas Roxas, Vicky Quirino Gonzalez, Jun Magsaysay & son (Luz and daughter were not there), Inday Garcia & Linda Garcia Campos -her husband Nanding addressed me as Ambassador and instantly corrected himself, saying he got confused because he had just been talking to the Argentine Ambassador.

A nation wins respect, not by sustaining and hiding abuses, but by punishing and rebuking them. Jose Rizal

My Inquirer column for Monday: Refocusing on Roxas My Arab News column for this week: The Perennial Divisiveness of Filipinos in Exile The Inquirer editorial focuses on Different tunes

The Perennial Divisiveness of Filipinos in Exile  Manuel L. Quezon III   It is said of Filipinos, that despite all the virtues they display as expatriates working overseas, there is one, major, national flaw they are incapable of transcending. That flaw is factionalism. The history of Filipino communities overseas is a never-ending series of attempts [...]

…When a whole population takes on the status of bystander, the victims are without allies; the criminals, unchecked, are strenghtened; and only then do we need to speak of heroes.  When a field is filled from end to end with sheep, a stag stands out.  When a continent is filled end to end with the compliant, we learn what heroism is.

Everybody engages in business in our country except ourselves.  It is sufficient that the foreigners praise to us imported merchandise and run down the native products for us to hasten to change without reflecting, that everything has its weak side and the most sensible custom is ridiculous in the eyes of those who do not follow it.  If this practice is continued, we shall be a people without character; everything in us will be borrowed, even our very defects.