Teodoro Agoncillo Quotes

History deals with the past, not with the future. We use history to avoid the mistakes of the past, not to recreate the very same events. You cannot.

You see, this is one big defect of many people... They see nothing good in people they don't like. And this is dangerous.

It's stupidity to continue using a method which is proven to be useless [and] fruitless. It's a waste of manpower.

What history is not biased? Show me a historian, a real historian who is not biased!...History is never objective.

No matter how good a President you are, if the historian is hostile to you, he will emphasize your errors and break down your merits... without departing from the facts.

Mahirap ngayon ang educational system. They're out for the degree, not knowledge.

The role of the Filipino historian must be the role of all historians. There is, of course, [Filipino history], but as rule, the role of the historian is to tell the truth-- in so far as documents are concerned.

Ang panitikan ay hindi sarili ng iilang tao lamang; yaoý pag-aari ng sino mang may tapat na pagnanasang maghain ng kanyang puso, diwa't kaluluwa alang-alang sa ikaluluwalhati ng sangkatauhang kinabibilangan niya.

I am not stamped by the majority. The herd may go anywhere I will not go with them.

Maganda ang kastila. It is beautiful, lalo pa kung nagmumura.

It is useless to think of what would have happened.

The attitude of a student in history should be do not accept anything until proven otherwise. Doubt everything including your parentage! Including your parentage!

History is written by every generation. Every generation writes its own history using the same sources. The interpretations vary according to time.

That is why I'm not in favor of the UP today which is too big, because the standard goes down. The reason is that the bigger a University becomes, the bigger the problems regarding the faculty.

There is a great similarity between legal evidence and historical evidence. The only difference lies in the fact that in legal evidence it is the judge who determines whether the account of a witness is acceptable or not... The historian is prosecuting attorney and defense attorney and the judge all rolled into one, and he is the narrator and the interpreter.

They know that Marcos will not give in, so why continue? The only thing that [people have to do] is not pay taxes. Wher will the government get money? Nanghihinayang ako sa life na nawala, because I know Marcos will not give in.

A biography should be faithful to the truth. I do not believe that a biography of a man should be all praises, it should be both [praise and criticism] because it is not bad to show the human side of a person. You make him human by painting the defects.

There are two kinds of faculty members in the UP. Those who are honored to be in the UP and those who honor the UP. I belong to the last.

Nothing is lost to you by being polite. You can be polite and courteous without losing anything.

Everyone is a historian. Everyone is his own historian.

Who is this historian who can say that he's telling the whole truth and nothing but the whole truth. Nobody, because you're human.

A good historian always provides for an exit in case of fire. "Probably," "allegedly," "it is possible...

History is re-creation while literature is creation.

In the time of writing you have to forget the present, if you can do that. Try to live in the period you are writing.

You're not sure that you will have all the documents. That is why the conclusions in history is not final.

Politeness is good only in social relations, because to be polite in literary or academic [matters] would be to be dishonest. Ipinasa mo out of politeness? Our of kwan to the father or...No!

You should see my personality on every page of my book, because I am the author. The book reflects the personality of the author. Do you expect my work to reflect the personality of another?

We always depend on the government to do this and that for us. No government can do that. Always it is with the cooperation of the people. The people must cooperate with the government. The government will think of ways to improve the welfare of the people, but the people will have to help themselves.

The people who criticize me are ignorant of what history is, because the very fact that the student of history chooses what to include and what not to include in his work, is proof that history is never objective.

I said that great men had a sense of history. But when you say you have a great sense of history it does not follow that you are great.

I do not believe in this command leadership. Dangerous doctrine 'yan ha. Because you cannot know everything your men do.

In historical methodology, it says that the more private a communication is, the more authoritative it is.

Maraming myths kasi. Maraming nag-teach ng history, they do not really read. They do not know of historical methodology. They do not read books about it.

We Filipinos are individualistic in a different way from American individualism. Our individualism is selfish. And individualism ng Americans, iba-- iyong liberty, iyong freedom of individuals.

The trouble is that the Marxists in our country are ignorant of the real Marxism... They supress... Phony Marxists they twist [data] because they have pre-conceived notions which they want to [prove]

Halimbawa ako, you are discussing two sides of a question and your sympathy lies with one. Sabi ko, makikita mo ang bias is towards the other, pero sa akin it's alright. Ang masama ang hindi mo ibigay yung floor to the other side. In other words, instead of saying objectivity, impartiality ang sabihin because impartiality means that you give the other fellow a chance to be heard, hindi yung hindi mo siya pinagbigyan.

Para kasi sa kaniya (Teodoro Agoncillo), trabahong tamad ang basta hiram nang hiram. Ikalawa, naniniwala siyang may katiyakan ang pagkabuo ng ilang luma nating salita at may kaugnayan sa ating sariling karanasan na nawawala sa paggamit natin ng hiram na bokabularyo.