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About this quote

What does it mean?
Physical death does not defeat ideas; a martyr's vision can conquer empires.
In plain terms
Even if you die, your ideas can win.
What can you take from it?
Ideas outlast physical death.

Where it applies

  • political struggle
  • activism

Putting it to work

  • focus on ideas
  • persist despite risk

Questions to consider

  • Do ideas outlive people?
  • What wins in the end?

Another view

Martyrdom is often a tragic necessity.

More from Jose Rizal

  1. The life Rizal lived is a more abiding gift than the things he said and wrote. His life will forever be of inestimable importance.

    Permalink to quote #58
  2. Rizal, Jose (1891, Ghent) El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed). English translation by Charles Derbyshire published 1912, Philippine Education Co., Manila.Et…

    Permalink to quote #60
  3. His coming to the world is like the appearance of a rare comet, whose brilliance appears only every other century.

    Permalink to quote #57

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