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Serbs Quotes

Browse 6 quotes about Serbs.

Serbs Quotes

“Under a bad leadership Serbs are capable of committing the most terrible atrocities; under good leaders we can do great deeds. It's like a field - if it's not cared for, the weeds will take over. But if you tend it, water and feed the seeds, you will read a bountiful harvest. Serbs are lazy, we lack discipline and have no capacity for self-criticism." With Their Backs to the World”

Leadership Discipline Self Criticism Serbs

Author:Seierstad Åsne

“During the Bosnian war in the late 1990s, I spent several days traveling around the country with Susan Sontag and her son, my dear friend David Rieff. On one occasion, we made a special detour to the town of Zenica, where there was reported to be a serious infiltration of outside Muslim extremists: a charge that was often used to slander the Bosnian government of the time. We found very little evidence of that, but the community itself was much riven as between Muslim, Croat, and Serb. No faction was strong enough to predominate, each was strong enough to veto the other's candidate for the chairmanship of the city council. Eventually, and in a way that was characteristically Bosnian, all three parties called on one of the town's few Jews and asked him to assume the job. We called on him, and found that he was also the resident intellectual, with a natural gift for synthesizing matters. After we left him, Susan began to chortle in the car. 'What do you think?' she asked. 'Do you think that the only dentist and the only shrink in Zenica are Jewish also?' It would be dense to have pretended not to see her joke.”

Religion Humour Extremism Religious Extremism Jews Muslims Bosnia Intellectuals Bosnian War Zealotry 1990s Croats Serbs Islamic Extremism David Rieff City Councils Sontag Zenica

Book:Hitch 22: A Memoir

Source: Hitch 22: A Memoir

“Kakvi smo mi to ljudi? Kakav smo mi to narod?... Između Azije i Evrope, na granici vera, carstava, ginuli smo nerazumno, više za druge nego za sebe... i ne stekosmo ni jednog vernog prijatelja. Taj nesrećni i prokleti srpski narod! U Evropi smo danas jedina država koja nema nijednog istinskog prijatelja. Nijednog! Ali nas Bog opet sačuva. Sačuva nas zbog nečeg. I za nešto.”

Death Hatred Serbian Serbs Friendlessness Dying For Others

Book:Vreme smrti, knjiga I

Source: Vreme smrti, knjiga I

“Cruelty is absolutely foreign to their natures.Some people once talked of setting up a branch of the " Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" in Serbia, and were asked in astonishment what work they supposed they would find to do ; who ever heard of a Serbian being cruel to child or animal?”

Serbia Yugoslavia Serbian Serbs Serbians

Book:An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army

Source: An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army

“It’s funny – you Irish are so like the Serbs.”

Ireland Irish Serbia Serbian Serbs

Book:Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

Source: Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

“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.”

History Nonfiction Serbia Balkans Balkan Serbs Serbians

Author:R.G.D. Laffan