“Filipinos have an aversion to blank walls.”

“Before 1521 we could have been anything and everything not Filipino; after 1565 we can be nothing but Filipino.”

“The role of the Filipino historian must be the role of all historians. There is, of course, [Filipino history], but as rule, the role of the historian is to tell the truth-- in so far as documents are concerned.”

“This is the difference between the Spanish advent and the American; that the technical revolution provoked by the first produced the Filipino, while the cultural upheaval provoked by the second merely helped us to become more aware of this Filipinoness.”

“Truly the Filipino rises to his finest self during trying times, the more trying the times, the finer the rising. Or it is in times of disaster that the Filipino ceases to be a disaster, thinking of others first before self. ”

“A blank canvas is so abstract that only imagination can fill it. But wait! Don't hang it on the wall like that. It's upside down.”