From everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve anything secret or bad.

Cited in: Jadranka Petrovic (2012) The Old Bridge of Mostar and Increasing Respect for Cultural Property in Armed Conflict, p. 65. - Signs near the travel-road