Quotes from Alija Izetbegovic

In history, good intentions do not always make good consequences

Religion, as it is understood in the West, does not lead toward progress, and science does not lead toward humanism.

Science attempts to figure out laws and then uses it later. While the work of art reflects the cosmic order without asking for an explanation

People complain that life is short,for me it seems very long.

Life is a dangerous thing. Insecurity is the price of living.

Advantages of freedom do not have to be proved by something outside freedom itself. It is its own underwriter.

To seek trouble - this is not courage, this is madness. Courage is the willingness of man to sensibly face the troubles he cannot avoid.

Whether man is a product of evolution or is 'created' becomes the question, 'Who is man? Is he part of the world or something different from it?'

When you are in prison, you have but one desire: freedom. If you fall ill in prison, you do not think about freedom - you think about health. Health is, therefore, more important than freedom.

As far as the sovereignty of Bosnia-Hercegovina is concerned we agreed to have limited sovereignty for a limited time and that is clear from the Dayton Agreement.

We have no rational evidence that there exists another world, but we have a clear feeling that man does not exist only to produce and to consume.

Has it ever happened to you that you actually like a rogue more than a so-called honest citizen? Have you ever wondered why? I believe that this can only be so because a rogue is more original and more his own. He is what he is.

Bosnia is a complicated country: three religions, three nations and those 'others'. Nationalism is strong in all three nations; in two of them there are a lot of racism, chauvinism, separatism; and now we are supposed to make a state out of that.

It is difficult to help a man without hurting his pride. Everyone wants to be a giver and not a receiver.

The ninth, the worst circle of the Inferno - Dante intended it for traitors.

I took revenge on hardship from my earlier life by forgetting it.

I believe that the people, instead of pretty lies, should be told the truth, no matter how ugly it may be. What can we do, destiny hasn't been kind to us; but, with the help of God, we will prevail.

We Bosniaks would for sure fight for integrity of Bosnia.

Islam is a way of living rather than a way of thinking.

Socialism and freedom are not compatible, regardless of repeated convincings.

I would sacrifice peace in order to win sovereignty for Bosnia, but for that peace in Bosnia, I would not sacrifice sovereignty.

All man's failures are either because of the religious denial of man's biological needs or the materialistic denial of man's spiritual desires.

When a man is ill,he has only one wish -to gain health,and when he does -then come a hundred wishes and he turns even unhappier than when he was lying sick in bed

A starry sky is equally interesting to a scientist, a mystic, an ethics scholar, and a poet. Looking at the stars, each experiences something different, and each sees his own picture.