The power of the pen
Here is a quill pen, like that used by writers in the time of Rizal in the 19th century. 'The pen is mightier than the sword' according to Edward Bulwer-Lytton, playwright, and as a writer I find that I agree with Bulwer-Lytton. Rizal himself was not only a playwright; he was also poet, novelist, essayist in languages (German, Spanish, English) other than his own (Tagalog). Gregorio F Zaide writes (Jose Rizal: Life, Works And Writings, 2003: 111): Hounded by powerful enemies, Rizal was forced to go abroad for a second time in February 1888. He was then a full-grown man of 27 years of age, a practising physician, and a recognized man-of-letters. The first time he went abroad in June 1882, he was a mere lad of 21, a youthful student in search of wisdom in the Old World, a romantic idealist with beautiful dreams of emancipating his people from bondage by the magic power of his pen.

And with that, as a writer I find I agree with Zaide too. Except that the pen oftentimes becomes the writer's master and not his tool, his slave. To me, Rizal's writings did not succeed in freeing his people from the bondage of their tribalism. That is Rizal's Unfinished Revolution.