Quotes from Tess Uriza Holthe

These things occur between mothers and daughters. Their relationships are more fragile than fathers and sons.

I do not care. My baby, my baby, oh, Janna. Ako na lang sana." People gasped at her last words and made the sign of the cross. It was very bad luck, what she said, to wish that it had been she who had died instead.

Mama does not like to make too many waves in the ocean. She told us it is important to be good to one another, especially now. She said the time has come when we must each lean on the other, so it is important to have patience.

My aunts did not share in the housework, but they contributed greatly to all of the village gossip. They had fake faces, showing Mama kindness and calling her ate, "big sister," but once they were alone, I heard the snide remarks they shot like an arrow in her direction. They had no shame. On that day of our deepest sorrow, the two of them snorted, elbowing each other while Mama writhed in agony on the floor

why anticipate bad things? We all experience these things, both the rich and the poor." Elena

What did you think? That we were going to a tea party? These men are trained to live through days in the jungle without food, without hope. They fight for a better Philippinas than the one we have at this moment. We've been reduced to animals, and so we act as such. Do you have a better answer on how to win this war?

The cure for her happiness was not bad luck, but to make her happier inside. Esmeralda

You carried your visions as a burden, but it was a gift. You still think of it as such. You think He above would reward you after what you have done? You have ruined lives with your obsession. It became your curse. When have you known a gift to be given twice? Once the package is open, is it still a gift?

Yesterday you spoke of power as if it were a good thing. You said you wished we had some kind of magic that could rid us of the Japanese soldiers. I have never seen it used for good. Think of the Japanese soldiers with all their power. It has eroded their hearts and their souls.

When you start to say to yourself, just one look back, just one glance, the danger will have begun for you.

These women were like her sisters. Even if she wanted desperately to be free of them. Sometimes the strongest prisons were the ones created by the people you loved the most.

Two people can be in the same room and still be gone.

My heart aches for my people. I don't understand why God gives more power to some and less to others.

Your sight will be lost. It is not too late. You are humble still, pure. Let go of this fascination with earthly riches. You have so much more than they.

I know one thing. If you let your personal hate interfere, you will bury your cause." We

I am frightened, yet I cannot help my mouth from saying these things. It has always been this way with me. My thinking and my mouth have been the matter of many arguments with my mother. He

we must be thankful that we are all together. And we must believe that there is a reason we are still alive

Family is important above all else.

It must be all or nothing. We cannot approach the situation halfway." After

Overhead, the Amerikano planes buzz by, great birds swooping down with a vengeance. But who is winning? I cannot imagine the Amerikanos will win. How can they? They have lost once before, and how will they resupply themselves when their country is so far away? The Japanese need only jump north and they will be home. How I wish they would both go home.

Those things belong to the darkness. We must rely on God. We must ask Him to make us strong, unafraid. To give us the strength to band together, to defeat these devils." She makes the sign of the cross. "God will guide us through this.

there will come a day when this war shall end and we will have the sunlight on our faces again.

When there is no family, what else is there to fight for? I was blinded with obsession, for something that could never fill me. I lost everything that mattered.

I prayed in my heart for a real father, since the one I had been given was a failure to me. That was my deepest wish, and my deepest sorrow.