In four productive years, Rizal transformed the lives, attitudes, and consciousness of the Dapitanons. His exemplary life was dictated by simple pleasures -- cultivating the land, enriching the minds of the young, encouraging thrift and industry, developing artistry and ingenuity, and showing compassion to communal health and welfare. On his departure, the people of Dapitan turned out en masse to see him off and the occasion was marked by solemnity, made more so by the presence of a small Dapitan band which played Chopin's "Marche funebre."
"...I do not aspire either for eternal fame or eternal renown; I do not aspire to equal others whose conditions, faculties, and circumstances could be and are in effect different from mine. My sole wish is to do what is possible, what is in my hands, the most necessary. I have glimpsed a little light and I believe that it is my duty to teach it to my countrymen."