when he believed himself entitled to enjoy the beauty of a dream." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
"Laughter and Tears", an essay (c.1884)
“

It was a world which granted privileges to some and imposed prohibitions on others...Endowed with strength and eager to learn, one had to drag himself in a narrow prison cell when he could see an open field, a vast horizon in the distance; when he could feel the beatings of a heart; and when he believed himself entitled to enjoy the beauty of a dream.

— José Rizal

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It was a world which granted privileges to some and imposed prohibitions on others...Endowed with strength and eager to learn, one had to drag himself in a narrow prison cell when he could see an open field, a vast horizon in the distance; when he could feel the beatings of a heart; and when he believed himself entitled to enjoy the beauty of a dream." in the context of ""Laughter and Tears", an essay (c.1884)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "José Rizal" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#José Rizal#himself#othersendowed#prohibitions#privileges#strength#distance#beatings#believed#entitled#granted#imposed
José Rizal

About José Rizal

José Rizal (June 19 1861 – December 30 1896) or known as José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was a Filipino nationalist, doctor, writer, and polymath whose works and martyred death made him a hero of the Philippine Revolution. His mother was Teodora Alonso and his father is Francisco Mercado. Rizal studied highschool at Ateneo De Manila University and then went to University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He did his post graduate work at the University of Madridin 1882.