Sadness is also a kind of defence.

Taken at face value, Andrić’s line suggests that sadness can function not only as an emotion but as a protective strategy. To be sad may create distance from others, lower expectations, and pre-empt disappointment—an inward “armor” that keeps further hurt at bay. The remark also implies a paradox: what looks like vulnerability can be a form of control, because it shapes how one is approached and what one must risk emotionally. In the psychological and moral landscapes typical of Andrić’s fiction, such defenses are often double-edged—sadness may preserve the self, yet it can also harden into resignation and isolate a person from consolation or change.