"Hasek was a humorist of the first order... one day he may be remembered in the same breath as Cervantes and Rabelais." Max Brod "At school they told us that humor is a spice. Today it seems to me that humor is not just an additive, but a fundamental way of looking at the world. Hasek had humor. And he was a man who really saw the world." Karel Čapek "Like Diogenes, Hasek rubs against the margins of society, and maintains his independence." Peter Steiner "I have complete admiration for the man for the humanity revealed in his literary works through irony, bitterness, joy, and hidden depths." J.D. Salinger