(Belated) Happy Birthday, Jose P. Rizal

I feel so dumb. I missed this important date.

I always pay tribute to Rizal, by quoting my favorite passage from his book, Noli Me Tangere. These words are spoken by Crisostomo Ibarra in Chapter 3:

“…I noted that a people’s prosperity or misery lay in direct proportion to its freedoms or its inhibitions and, along the same lines, of the sacrifice or selfishness of its ancestors.”

If you haven't read the Noli yet, read it. If you have, re-read it. Once you get over the stodgy language and focus on the story and message, it will be a breeze, and more important, an eye-opener. PowerBooks has a good Penguin edition, translated by Harold Augenbraum, which is also available as a Kindle e-book.

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