Quick Summary
Rizal’s writings in La Solidaridad reveal his sharp political insight and compassion for the Filipino people. His essays argued for dignity, reform, and national awakening, using reason rather than rage.
The Voice of Reform in a Time of Repression
When Jose Rizal began contributing to La Solidaridad in 1889, he stepped into a world of ideas shaped by exile, censorship, and colonial injustice. The newspaper became the arena where Filipino reformists challenged Spanish authorities with reasoned argument, not revolution. For Rizal, it was the perfect channel: a place where he could speak freely about abuses in the Philippines, defend his countrymen, and articulate the vision of a modern, enlightened nation.
Rizal’s articles in the publication were not merely political commentaries. They were moral critiques of a system that thrived on inequality. Through wit, irony, and scholarship, he exposed contradictions in Spanish colonial rule and reminded Filipinos that they deserved representation, education, and fairness.
Below are some of the most resonant ideas and quotations from Rizal’s contributions to La Solidaridad, placed in context so readers understand not just what he wrote but why it mattered.
“The school is the basis of the person’s future.”
From the essay La Instrucción en Filipinas (Education in the Philippines), Rizal argued that the state of education mirrored the state of the people. Schools in the Philippines suffered from underfunding, bias, and outdated methods, leaving Filipinos unprepared for the modern world. For him, education was not a luxury but a necessity for national progress.
He believed that a people kept ignorant could never prosper, and that true reform demanded access to good teaching, scientific learning, and intellectual freedom.
“Reason has no need of wings to be able to attain the truth.”
In La Verdad para Todos (The Truth for All), Rizal defended the Filipino intellect against colonial insult. Spanish friars often claimed natives were lazy or incapable of higher thinking. Rizal countered this by appealing to logic, not emotion. Truth, he wrote, is not confined to race or privilege. It belongs to anyone who seeks it with sincerity.
This line captures his Enlightenment-inspired worldview. Truth does not bow to authority. It only bows to evidence.
“Justice is the foremost virtue of civilization.”
Rizal repeated this theme throughout his writings, but it appears pointedly in his critiques of clerical power. In La Indolencia de los Filipinos (The Indolence of the Filipinos), he argued that true progress requires fairness. Any society that tolerates injustice—whether through corruption, discrimination, or abuse of power—cannot call itself civilized.
For Rizal, the Philippines did not suffer from indolence. It suffered from structural oppression. Justice, therefore, was the foundation of national renewal.
“Only an enslaved people remain silent.”
Although phrased differently across his works, this sentiment appears strongly in Rizal’s political essays. silence, for him, was not a cultural trait but the conditioned response of a population taught to fear authority. Speaking up, debating ideas, and demanding rights were signs of a society awakening from subjugation.
Through La Solidaridad, he encouraged Filipinos to think critically and refuse passive acceptance of colonial rule.
“Man is multiplied by the number of languages he possesses.”
In the essay Sobre la Nueva Ortografía de la Lengua Tagala, Rizal stressed the importance of linguistic development. Language, he argued, is power. It shapes identity and intellect. A person who learns multiple languages becomes mentally flexible and culturally enriched.
At a time when Spanish authorities claimed Tagalog and other native languages were inferior, Rizal emphasized linguistic dignity and intellectual versatility.
“The Philippines will remain where she is if her sons do not help her rise.”
Rizal believed in a reformist nationalism rooted in personal responsibility. Filipinos, he argued, must not wait for Spain or foreign allies to uplift them. Progress depended on unity, initiative, and discipline.
This line embodies the soul of his writings in La Solidaridad: the belief that national improvement begins with self-improvement, and that no one can save a country except its own people.
Why These Quotes Still Matter
Rizal’s words endure because they were not written for his time alone. His insights on education, justice, truth, and civic duty remain relevant to modern Philippines. He wrote with a scholar’s mind, a patriot’s heart, and a reformer’s clarity.
La Solidaridad was more than a newspaper. It was the journal of a nation discovering its voice. And Rizal, through his essays and quotations, became one of its clearest and most courageous thinkers.
His writings remind readers today that reform begins with awareness, freedom begins with truth, and progress begins with participation.
