- It has fallen upon me to bid farewell today to a man who departed prematurely, and with whom I and my circle have walked together for 30 years. Professor Szyszko was an outstanding scholar, a man who achieved extraordinary, internationally significant accomplishments in his field. He was a man deeply connected to nature, especially the forest, which he truly loved. At the same time, he was someone with incredibly firm, decisive views. This applied both to public matters, his involvement in activities that for many years were extremely difficult, brought no profits, and on the contrary, one had to pay for them, as well as concerning matters of science, scientific convictions, and the immense knowledge he utilized, but which he also defended, as it was often the subject of controversy and attack. He was incredibly resolute and unambiguous in this regard. One could say he was as hard as steel. But he was also hard as steel when it came to another sphere of his convictions, his commitment. This was the sphere related to faith. He defended the principles of this faith, everything connected with the teachings of the Church, just as tenaciously as he defended all those other values or truths I have mentioned before – said Jarosław Kaczyński during the farewell to the late Jan Szyszko.

- He was an extraordinary, talented man. He departed prematurely, very prematurely, suddenly. And he departed, one might say, in battle. For until the last moment of his life, he fought for this great cause of rebuilding Poland to be continued. Perhaps the burden of this struggle, both the ordinary, even physical one, and the other burden, related to the constant attacks on him, were the cause, or one of the causes, of this premature, tragic death – the PiS leader continued.