The Cellist of Sarajevo Quotes

“A weapon does not decide whether or not to kill. A weapon is a manifestation of a decision that has already been made.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“She felt an enveloping happiness to be alive, a joy made stronger by the certainty that someday it would all come to an end. Afterward she felt a little foolish, and never spoke to anyone about it.
Now, however, she knows she wasn't being foolish. She realizes that for no particular reason she stumbled into the core of what it is to be human. It's a rare gift to under stand that you life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever. ”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“This is how....life happens. One small thing at a time. A series of inconsequential junctions, any or none of which can lead to salvation or disaster. There are no grand moments where a person does or does not perform the act that defines their humanity. There are only moments that appear, briefly, to be this way.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Do you know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? A pessimist says ‘Oh dear, things can’t possibly get any worse.’ And an optimist says, ‘Don’t be so sad. Things can always get worse.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“You don't choose what to believe. Belief chooses you.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Because civilization isn't a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, recreated daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he ever would have thought possible. And if he wishes to live, he must do what he can to prevent the world he wants to live in from fading away. As long as there's war, life is a preventative measure.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“It's a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“If this city is to die, it won't be because of the men on the hills, it will be because of the people in the valley. When they're content to live with death, to become what the men on the hills want them to be, then Sarajevo will die.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Do they hate the idea of her, because she's different from them, and that in this difference there might be some sort of inferiority or superiority that is hers or theirs, that in the end threatens the potential happiness of everyone?”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The choices she's made have left her without choice.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The fingers on his flesh told him he was loved, that he had always been loved, and that the world was a place where above all else things that were good would find a way to burrow into you.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“He knows the sniper will fire again, but he isn't afraid. At this moment fear doesn't exist. There's no such thing as bravery. There are no heroes, no villains, no cowards. There's what he can do, and what he can't. There's right and wrong and nothing else. The world is binary. Shading will come later.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“He stares at the cellist, and feels himself relax as the music seeps into him. He watches as the cellist's hair smoothes itself out, his beard disappears. A dirty tuxedo becomes clean, shoes polished bright as mirrors...The building behind the cellist repairs itself. The scars of bullets and shrapnel are covered by plaster and paint, and windows reassemble, clarify and sparkle as the sun reflects off glass. The cobblestones of the road set themselves straight. Around him people stand up taller, their faces put on weight and colour. Clothes gain lost thread, brighten, smooth out their wrinkles. Kenan watches as his city heals itself around him. The cellist continues to play...”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Arrow let the slow pulse of the vibrating strings flood into her. She felt the lament raise a lump in her throat, fought back tears. She inhaled sharp and fast. Her eyes watered, and the notes ascended the scale. The men on the hills, the men in the city, herself, none of them had the right to do the things they'd done. It had never happened. It could not have happened. But she knew these notes. They had become a part of her. They told her that everything had happened exactly as she knew it had, and that nothing could be done about it. No grief or rage or noble act could undo it. But it could all have been stopped. It was possible. The men on the hills didn't have to be murderers. Then men in the city didn't have to lower themselves to fight their attackers. She didn't have to be filled with hatred. The music demanded that she remember this, that she know to a certainity that the world still held the capacity for goodness. The notes were proof of that. ”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The sniper puts the cellist in his sights. Arrow is about to send a bullet into him, but stops. His finger isn't on the trigger...His hand isn't even in the vicinity of the trigger...His head leans back slightly, and she sees that his eyes are closed, that he is no longer looking through his scope. She knows what he's doing. It's very clear to her, unmistakable. He's listening to the music. And then Arrow knows why he didn't fire yesterday...She is at once, sure of two things. The first is that she does not want to kill this man, and the second is that she must. Time is running out. There's no reason not to kill him. A sniper of his ability has wihtout doubt killed dozens, if not hundreds. Not just soldiers. Women crossing streets. Children in playgrounds. Old men in water lines. She knows this to a certainity. Yet she doesn't want to pull her trigger. All because she can see that he doesn't want to pull his...The final notes of the cellist's melody reach him, and he smiles. ”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“It screamed downward, splitting air and sky without effort. A target expanded in size, brought into focus by time and velocity. There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were. Then the visible world exploded.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“There is no way to tell which version of a lie is the truth.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Civilisation isn't a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, recreated daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he even would have thought possible".”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The opportunity to die was everywhere, and it just wasn't surprising when that opportunity became an event.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“He's been asleep since the war began. He knows this now. In defending himself from death he lost his grip on life. He thinks of Emina, risking her life to deliver expired pills to someone she's never met. Of the young man who ran into the street to save her when she was shot. Of the cellist who plays for those killed in a mortar attack. He could run now, but he doesn't.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“... life is a series of tiny, unavoidable decisions.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The men on the hills told her that she hated them, and they did everything they could to make it true. She did not fight very hard. It was an easy thing to do. She wonders whether it would have been possible to behave any differently. She hopes it is. She hopes that, somewhere in the city, there are people who are resisting the temptation to turn these men into devils, to say that all men are like them, to oppose their very existence the way they always said the people of Sarajevo did.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“There must come a point where so much has been turned to rubble that ruining a little more makes no difference. It’s possible that point has already been reached. Does a person work the same way?”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“It’s a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won’t last forever.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“As she rounded a corner one of her favourite songs came on the radio, and sunlight filtered through the trees the way it does with lace curtains, reminding her of her grandmother, and tears began to slide down her cheeks. Not for her grandmother, who was then still very much among the living, but because she felt an enveloping happiness to be alive, a joy made stronger by the certainty that someday it would all come to an end. It overwhelmed her, made her pull the car to the side of the road. Afterwards she felt a little foolish, and never spoke to anyone about it. Now, however, she knows she wasn’t being foolish. She realizes that for no particular reason she stumbled into the core of what it is to be human. It’s a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won’t last forever.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Because civilization isn’t a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, re-created daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he ever would have thought possible. And if he wishes to live, he must do what he can to prevent the world he wants to live in from fading away. As long as there’s war, life is a preventative measure.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“A bullet leaves evidence that a mortar doesn't.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“The cellist confuses her. She doesn’t know what he hopes to achieve with his playing. He can’t believe he will stop the war. He can’t believe he will save lives. Perhaps he has gone insane,”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“An explosion groans to the west of them, and Arrow involuntarily looks in the direction of the sound.
Nermin, who hasn't looked, smiles. 'I think they're trying to send us a message.'
'What is the message?' she asks as another shell lands in the same area.
Nermin shrugs. 'I don't know. I'm making a special effort not to listen.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo

“Because civilization isn’t a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, re-created daily.”
― Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo