Balkan Quotes

“Then Drago began the deliberate, precise, business-like process of killing.  A knee-buckling burst of fire and flash laid waste to men and material within seconds.  A Panhard vehicle to Silva’s left simply disappeared in an explosion that spraying metal parts willy-nilly in every direction in a spread so thorough that Drago thought they were under fire, and he yelled at his men to respond.  Another blast destroyed a six-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, but it didn’t break it apart; it simply expanded as if swollen or bloated, like an air mattress or inflatable toy, though it still had weight and quickly collapsed over its own suspension.  Some trucks were overturned; a Jeep flipped end-over-end.  None were left unscathed.  In short order, what had been ten or twelve vehicles were reduced to a single steaming and smoking pile of metal.”
― John Payton Foden, Magenta

“There was a story out there, in a scary place, and she had to bear witness.”
― John Payton Foden, Magenta

“Thinking about the weather was one way of shutting out of his mind the appalling bloody human mess sprawled out over the bed of this seedy hotel room in central London. The sight and smell was sickening - even to a hardened detective like him. Felling the bile rising in his throat again, he hurried out into the dimly lit corridor. “Where are you, Sergeant? Is the doctor here yet?”
― Mark Ellis, The French Spy

“I understand your position, Dave.  It’s a big story, and you worked hard to get it.  But if you don’t drop me at the Europa, I’ll blow your head off.  Imagine how big that story would be.
There’s no need for these histrionics.  We’ll go to the Holiday Inn.  You can rest, shower, debrief.  You’ll be among friends.
Last chance, Dave.  You can be the hero or the headline.  Your call.
Let’s talk it out.
No.  You talk too much.
He started a new line of argument, but before the words passed his lips his brains passed them on the way out. A dirty reddish slime painted the windshield; it covered the dashboard and console. It poured and dripped from the ceiling to the seat.  The driver was covered on one side of his head and body.  The mess made the crowded taxi undrivable.
-Also, someone crapped their pants.”
― John Payton Foden, Magenta

“Jer, ako ima boga, on je samo jedan.
I ne treba ti mač i crkva da mu budeš odan.
On od tebe jednostavno želi da budeš dobar,
a ne da plaćaš popa i da se šlihtaš do groba.
Ako sve ovo ikad kažeš, izdajnik si roda.
Jer ovde si to: vera, nacija i boja.
Ljudi umiru zbog toga, zbog slučajne lutrije,
a da su izvučeni drugde, sve bi bilo drukčije:
voleli bi ono sto sad mrze jednakim žarom,
i opet bi im bilo vredno da to plate glavom. (Pismo vanzemaljcu)”
― Marko Šelić

“What’s the harm in forgetting? What does remembering do? Kugel had read that the war in the Balkans was referred to as the War of the Grandmothers; that after 50 years of peace, it was the grandmothers who reminded their offspring to hate each other, the grandmothers who reminded them of past atrocities, of indignities long gone. Never forget! shouted the grandmothers. So their grandchildren remembered, and their grandchildren died.”
― Shalom Auslander, Hope: A Tragedy

“I had always pictured the Albanian
peasants as a very fine picturesque race of men wearing spotless native costume, and slung about with fascinating looking daggers and curious weapons of all kinds, but the great majority of those I saw, more especially in the small towns, were
a very degenerate looking race indeed.”
― Flora Sandes, An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army

“The writer does not dare dream of giving the best of his individuality. No, he must never express his anger. The vacillating demands of mediocrity must be satisfied. Amuse the people, be their clown, give them platitudes about which they can laugh, shadows of truth which they can hold as truths.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project

“Jeste li primijetili sa kakvom ravnodušnošću svijet ispraća naše velike, naše životne odluke? Kada sahranjujete oca, u naručje uzimate dijete, kada prosite ženu ili je posmatrate kako zauvijek nestaje u dnu ulice, nikada neće prhnuti ptice, neće se čuti zvonik crkve, neće čak pasti ni jebena kiša. Surova priroda učiniće sve da vas ubijedi u nebitnost vađe sudbonosne odluke.”
― Andrej Nikolaidis

“Yet it is also a tonic and an antidote to dullness to be with the Serbs. They possess the irresponsible gaiety that we traditionally connect with the Irish, with whom they have often been compared. Other less convenient sides of the Irish character are also typical in the Serbs, such as a cheerful contempt for punctuality in daily life and a ready willingness, arising clearly from politeness and good nature, to make promises that are not always fulfilled. But perhaps the most pronounced of these similarities is to be found in the songs of Serbia and Ireland. With both peoples the historic songs about the past are songs of sorrow, or noble struggles against overwhelming odds, of failure redeemed by unconquerable resolve. There is nothing strange in this combination of laughing gaiety and profound melancholy. It is often only those who are truly capable of the one emotion who also have the faculty for the other.”
― R.G.D. Laffan

“Savaş şöyle bir dokunup geçmişti bize. Bir ufak tırmık yarasıydı bu henüz. Sırada hançer vardı. Böyledir yüreği insanoğlunun: Küçücük bir felakette duracak gibi olur, sonuna kadar dayanır büyük felaketlere”
― Dido Sotiriou, Ματωμένα χώματα

“Zijn testament was een puinhoop. De familie leek tijdens de verdeling op een etnisch conflict op de Balkan.”
― Tommy Wieringa, Dit is mijn moeder

“Ipak, nerijetko ga je morila sumnja koja opsjeda srce mnogoga umjetnika: da je njegova umjetnost, iskopana iz najtamnijih dubina njegove duše, čisto sranje. Ponekad je osjećao takav stid da bi otkazivao probe. Nije mogao podnijeti razmišljanje o svojim pjesmama-njegovo se odsustvo talenta prostiralo pred njim poput Sahare pred umornim putnikom na smrdljivoj devi.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, Nowhere Man

“I told her I hated normal people and the land of the fucking free and the home of the asshole brave, and I hated God and George and all and everything.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project

“One person's garbage is another person's commodity.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project

“Na to je gucnuo, pa se još gore mrgodio, kao da je optuženik koji sluša presudu u Haagu, i stresao se kao pokisli pas kad uđe u kuću- što oduvijek na Balkanu znači samo jedno- da je rakija dobra i jaka.”
― Miljenko Jergović, Freelander

“Savaşın getirdiği kinle vahşet, daha güçlü çıktı dostluk ve arkadaşlıktan... Ve temiz yürekler, düşman toprakları üzerinde unutulmuş bayraklar gibi kaldı.”
― Dido Sotiriou, Ματωμένα χώματα

“The glow of the Mathnawî’s inspiration has never been extinguished in Bosnia, even as its people were forced to endure trying hardships, ranging from Austro-Hungarian occupation, the Serb- dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the monstrous bloodletting of the Second World War, the communist’s hindrance of religion, and most recently the ferocious atrocities of the 1990s.”
― Emin Lelic, Reading Rumi in Sarajevo