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Balkan Quotes

Browse 13 quotes about Balkan.

Balkan Quotes

“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?”

WarActionViolenceDramaCivil WarFast PacedIntriguingVictimsPage TurnerBalkan
Book:The French Spy
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“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.”

WarActionDramaFragileFast PacedBosniaEthnic GroupsPage TurnerDeceptionsBalkan
Book:Magenta
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“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.”

BalkansAlbanianAlbaniaBalkanAlbanians
Book:An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army
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“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.”

LossViolenceHatredCivil WarIntriguingVictimsPerspectivesPage TurnerSenseless ViolenceBalkan
Book:Magenta
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“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.”

IslamRumiBosniaBalkanMathnawiTariqaSufisme
Book:Reading Rumi in Sarajevo
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“Με το πέρασμα των φεγγαριών και το φυλλορρόημα των γενεών το γεφύρι έστεκε αναλλοίωτο, όπως και το νερό που κύλαγε από κάτω του. Γερνούσε βέβαια, όπως όλα, αλλά σε χρονικά διαστήματα πολύ πιο μεγάλα, όχι μονάχα απ' όσο κρατάει η ζωή ενός ανθρώπου αλλά περισσότερο και από το μάκρος της ζωής ολόκληρων γενεών, κι ήταν τόσο μεγάλα τα διαστήματα, που κανένας δεν μπορούσε να δει με το μάτι αυτό το γέρασμα. Αν και φθαρτό, όπως όλα τα πράγματα, το γεφύρι έμοιαζε να 'χει ζωή αιώνια, γιατί κανείς δεν μπορούσε να προβλέψει το τέλος του.”

TimeBalkan
Author:Ivo Andrić
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“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.”

HistoryNonfictionSerbiaBalkansBalkanSerbsSerbians
Author:R.G.D. Laffan
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“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)”

VeraMarčeloBalkanBojaNacijaPismo Vanzemaljcu
Author:Marko Šelić
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