AN EXCERPT FROM RIZAL'S SPEECH DELIVERED
AT THE CAFE HABANERO
(December 31, 1891, Madrid)
"We, therefore, profess, gentlemen, once again unity and solidarity among us. The good and welfare of our country is our motive. Let us prove to the whole world that when a Filipino wills something he can always do it." – Dr. Jose Rizal
"The Filipino Colony in Madrid, that flower who is expected to rejuvenate the rotten trunk, that handful of youth, who, three thousand miles away from their distant homes, should have only one thought and only one aspiration, is now undergoing a progressive transformation……
Here, gentlemen, is the summary of the three years activities that I saw in this Court. You can see how little by little union among the younger Filipinos has been blossoming, thanks to the events that impressed their hearts.
During those rather ungrateful days the feeling for our country had never abandoned us; if the mutual zeal for individual independence and the natural pride of each and everyone seemed to becloud it, the mere invocation of the word "country" has revived it and has presented itself powerful and ready as the geni of oriental tales.
The ground was always fertile, and on it, if for a long time nothing sprouted but discord and confusion, that was because good seed was lacking. If the ground hardened and the water got stagnant, that was because there was no movement.
The vices, those powerful children of idleness, escaped from us as soon as serious problems occupied our minds, and we can say that even when at times we suffered discouragement and seemed to retreat, finally we marched forward, and we progressed. Our hearts are noble and our aim is holy . . .
Now the Filipino Colony understands the advantages of unity; now we all know that the iron is strong and the air is compressible because the molecules of one have little cohesion, while those of the other form a compact mass hardly leaving a vacuum between them.
I understand, gentlemen, that in this situation the individual freedom suffers in its prerogatives, but destiny wills it that way; the molecules of the more solid and compact body are the most compressed, and the most powerful army is the most disciplined.
What does it matter, gentlemen, if we sacrifice a portion of our freedom, but we offer it in the altars of our country? What does it matter if we are deprived of some particles, if these become grains that are kept to be planted and later harvested abundantly?
Here, gentlemen, is the summary of the three years activities that I saw in this Court. You can see how little by little union among the younger Filipinos has been blossoming, thanks to the events that impressed their hearts.
During those rather ungrateful days the feeling for our country had never abandoned us; if the mutual zeal for individual independence and the natural pride of each and everyone seemed to becloud it, the mere invocation of the word "country" has revived it and has presented itself powerful and ready as the geni of oriental tales.
The ground was always fertile, and on it, if for a long time nothing sprouted but discord and confusion, that was because good seed was lacking. If the ground hardened and the water got stagnant, that was because there was no movement.
The vices, those powerful children of idleness, escaped from us as soon as serious problems occupied our minds, and we can say that even when at times we suffered discouragement and seemed to retreat, finally we marched forward, and we progressed. Our hearts are noble and our aim is holy . . .
Now the Filipino Colony understands the advantages of unity; now we all know that the iron is strong and the air is compressible because the molecules of one have little cohesion, while those of the other form a compact mass hardly leaving a vacuum between them.
I understand, gentlemen, that in this situation the individual freedom suffers in its prerogatives, but destiny wills it that way; the molecules of the more solid and compact body are the most compressed, and the most powerful army is the most disciplined.
What does it matter, gentlemen, if we sacrifice a portion of our freedom, but we offer it in the altars of our country? What does it matter if we are deprived of some particles, if these become grains that are kept to be planted and later harvested abundantly?
We, therefore, profess, gentlemen, once again unity and solidarity among us. The good and welfare of our country is our motive. Let us prove to the whole world that when a Filipino wills something he can always do it."
-Rizal's Speech Delivered at Café Habanero, 31 December 1891
(Jose Rizal's Political & Historical Writing, The Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission, 1963-1964, p. 28f.
"I am a friend of all our compatriots, whether they are sympathizers or enemies, and still more of our fellow countrymen who know how to love their motherland".
-Dr. Rizal to Mariano Ponce
Brussels, June 4, 1890
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