José Martí is considered the national hero of Cuba. The legacy of his ideas, conveyed through his writings, has transcended from generation to generation, serving as a guide for our current and future generations.
Here are some of the most well-known quotes by José Martí, organized by category and themes.
Quotes by José Martí about enemies:
- “Barbarians who trust everything to force and violence build nothing because their seeds are rooted in hatred.”
- “A man filled with selfishness is a criminal.”
- “Only those individuals who spread betrayal, hatred, and death out of resentment towards the prosperity and peace of others do not deserve compassion.”
- “I lived inside the monster and know its insides.”
- “Only those who propagate treason, fire, and death out of hatred for the prosperity of others are not worthy of pity in the end.”
Quotes by José Martí about communism:
- “Knowing the country and governing it according to knowledge is the only way to free it from tyrannies.”
- “He who hides his opinion out of fear and keeps it as a crime in the depths of his chest, and with his concealment favors tyrants, is as cowardly as one who, in the heat of battle, turns tail and abandons the lance to the enemy.”
- “Only tyranny fears the complete rooting of freedom.”
- “For one who lacks the ability to govern with justice, and one who lacks the ability to convince should not govern.”
- “A treacherous murderer, ungrateful to God and an enemy of humanity is the one who, under the pretext of guiding new generations, teaches them an isolated and absolute heap of doctrines, and whispers into their ears, before the sweet discourse of love, the barbaric gospel of hatred.”
- “At this point, a revolution in society is still necessary: one that will not end with the government of its leader.”
- “One who uses the power owed to them by the voters through injustice and against them is a complete thief.”
Quotes by José Martí about the homeland:
- “The homeland is the joy, pain, and sky of all, not the fiefdom or chaplaincy of anyone.”
- “When a people emigrates, its rulers are superfluous.”
- “In revolution, the methods must be silent, and the goals, public.”
- “Those who do not conquer their homeland live constantly in exile and under the whip of guilt, like small wild animals thrown from one country to another.”
- “From a homeland, like from a mother, men are born.”
- “Homeland is humanity, it is that portion of humanity that we see closer, and in which we happen to be born.”
- “Ruler, in a new nation, means creator.”
- “Love, mother, for the homeland, is not the ridiculous love for the land or the grass that our plants tread on.”
- “Without a homeland, but without a master.”
- “Freedom, to be viable, has to be sincere and complete; if the republic does not open its arms to all and advances with all, the republic dies.”
- “Those who ardently desire a secure homeland should conquer it quickly.”
- “When one serves the homeland well, one has many old friends everywhere.”
- “Honoring the homeland is a way of fighting for it.”
- “Government is nothing more than the balance of the natural elements of the country.”
- “Only he who obeys serves the homeland.”
Quotes by José Martí about respect:
- “The only autograph worthy of a man is the one he leaves written with his deeds.”
- “That is better than being a prince: being useful.”
- “Loving past glories gives strength to acquire new ones.”
- “Without loftiness of ideas, no one can expect common respect.”
- “To forgive is to conquer.”
- “Neither with flattery, nor with lies, nor with uproar, is a just cause truly helped.”
- “Pain is the salt of glory.”
- “What is necessary must be done at every moment.”
- “It is necessary to make virtue a fashion.”
- “Duty must be fulfilled simply and naturally.”
- “Anyone who lets others do what he is capable of doing sins.”
- “The worker’s right can never be hatred towards capital; it is harmony, conciliation, the common approach of both.”
- “Helping those in need is not only a duty but also a source of happiness.”
- “The sincere man has the right to make mistakes.”
- “One who has a right does not obtain it by violating others’ rights to maintain his own.”
- “To do is the best way to express oneself.”
- “He who knows how to despise his life will always know how to honor it.”
- “Let each one do his part of duty, and nothing can defeat us.”
- “A man’s duty is where he is most useful.”
- “A man’s first duty is to think for himself.”
- “Talent is meant to honor oneself with it, not to dishonor others.”
- “To go ahead of others, one needs to see more than them.”
- “Victory is made of concessions.”
- “Without a woman’s smile, there is no complete glory for a man.”
- “Happiness exists on Earth, and it is conquered through the prudent exercise of reason, the knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and the practice of generosity.”
- “Greatness lies in truth, and truth is virtue.”
- “Justice, the equality of merit, respectful treatment of man, and the full equality of rights: that is the revolution.”
Quotes by José Martí about freedom:
- “Freedom is the right that people have to act freely, think, and speak without hypocrisy.”
- “If you don’t fight, at least have the decency to respect those who do.”
- “A minute standing is worth more than a lifetime on your knees.”
- “An insatiable appetite for glory leads to sacrifice and death, but innate instinct leads to self-preservation and life.”
- “Trenches of ideas are worth more than trenches of stone.”
- “Political freedom will not be secured unless spiritual freedom is ensured.”
- “Man loves freedom, even if he does not know his love for it. His life is driven by it, and he moves away from where freedom does not exist.”
- “A man who lives in disgrace and without freedom feels as if his garment is filled with mud from the streets.”
- “People can only become free if they are truly educated.”
- “If truth is absent from its voice, the word, like an empty rocket, will fall extinguished to the ground in the silence of the night.”
- “Without air, the earth dies. Without freedom, like without one’s own essential air, nothing lives.”
- “Rights are taken, not requested; they are seized, not begged.”
- “Truth is not reasoned; it is recognized, felt, and loved.”
- “Freedom is very expensive, and one must either resign oneself to live without it or decide to buy it at its price.”
- “Only an educated people can be truly free.”
- “One who has known how to preserve their dignity knows the value of others and respects it.”
- “It seems to me that they kill one of my sons every time they deprive a man of the right to think.”
- “Freedom cannot be fruitful for peoples with foreheads stained with blood.”
- “Only the general exercise of rights frees peoples from the rule of the ambitious.”
- “Freedom never dies from the wounds it receives. The dagger that wounds it brings new blood to its veins.”
- “No one has the right to freedom when they do not make a habit and show of respecting the freedom of others.”
- “I would like to see the freedom of my homeland rise amid wings, not from pools of blood.”
- “Power is nothing more than respect for all manifestations of justice.”
- “Speech is not meant to conceal the truth but to speak it.”
- “Freedom is the essence of life.”
Phrases by José Martí about death:
- “The blood of the good is never shed in vain.”
- “One leaves the earth so content when a great work has been accomplished.”
- “Death is not true when the work of life has been fulfilled well.”
Phrases by José Martí about education:
- “To know how to read is to know how to walk. To know how to write is to know how to ascend.”
- “Books console us, pacify us, prepare us, enrich our lives.”
- “Great is the word when reason rides upon it.”
- “Men are divided into two factions: those who love and build, and those who hate and destroy.”
- “A school is a forge of spirits.”
- “Education begins with life and does not end until death.”
- “Thinking for oneself is part of a duty of men.”
- “Education is freedom.”
- “Let the proud cease, and the need to lift up the humble will cease.”
- “To teach, which is the most beautiful and honorable thing in the world.”
- “Man, people, Nation, State, everything: everything is in the humble benches of the school.”
- “Happiness exists on earth and is gained through the prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the Universe, and constant practice of generosity.”
- “To think is to foresee.”
- “Children are the hope of the world.”
- “The most difficult and important work is the one I do on myself.”
Quotes by José Martí about love and friendship:
- “The only force and the only truth in this life is love. Patriotism is nothing more than love, friendship is nothing more than love.”
- “With love, hope is reborn.”
- “There are no greater real joys in the world than faithful love at home, and friendship among the few good men.”
- “Love the enthusiastic and selfless person.”
- “There is only one beautiful child in the world, and every mother has him.”
- “The one who loves is good, and only he is good; and the one who does not love is not.”
- “Love will ultimately fill the hearts of men.”
- “Sensible love is not love.”
- “There are three things that each person should do in their life: plant a tree, have a child, and write a book.”
- “Love is like the sun because it sets everything on fire and melts it.”
- “To love is nothing more than a way to grow.”
- “The only law of authority is love.”
- “For all sorrows, friendship is a sure remedy.”
- “To suffer is more than to enjoy: it is truly to live.”
- “Love is delicacy, fine hope, merit, and respect.”
Quotes by José Martí about nations and people:
- “The well-being of many is preferable to the opulence of a few.”
- “We seek solidarity not as an end but as a means to ensure that our America fulfills its universal mission.”
- “The peoples of the world have the rulers they deserve.”
- “Mountains culminate in peaks, and towns in men.”
- “Make men, whoever wants to make nations.”
- “Our homeland is one, it begins at the Rio Grande, and ends in the muddy mountains of Patagonia.”
- “Ignorance kills nations, and it is necessary to kill ignorance.”
- “A people that submits, perishes.”
- “I am a son of America, and I owe myself to her.”
- “Exclusive wealth is unjust. Let it be for many; not for newcomers, new dead hands, but for those who honestly and industriously deserve it.”
- “In America, freedom is a vigorous sprouting.”
- “Only virtues produce constant and serious well-being in nations.”
- “In times of crisis, the peoples of the world must hasten to know each other.”
Phrases by José Martí about the youth:
- “He who nourishes himself with young ideas, always lives young.”
- “Youth is happy because it is blind: this blindness is its greatness, this inexperience is its sublime confidence. What a beautiful generation, the active youth!”
- “If there is something that ennobles youth, it is consideration and respect for the elderly.”
- “Youth must exercise the rights it will fulfill and later teach.”
- “Youth is the age of growth and development, of activity, liveliness, imagination, and impetus.”
It is impossible to encompass all the quotes of the hero of Cuba in a single article, but these were some of the most well-known.
