Italian Quotes

I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?

You exist only in what you do.

The artist is the medium between his fantasies and the rest of the world.

It's easier to be faithful to a restaurant than it is to a woman.

Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me.

All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography.

The poor man is he who, having much, craves for more.

I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger.

I don't want to hear about my death.

I didn't want to kill a man. I'm not capable of killing a man. I wanted to kill a tyrant.

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It's that simple!

Heroes can be sweet.

Glory is a heavy burden, a murdering poison, and to bear it is an art. And to have that art is rare.

I defend Israel's right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time.

I am known for a life spent in the struggle for freedom, and freedom includes the freedom of religion.

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. There must be some human truth that is beyond religion.

I am a danger to myself if I get angry.

How do you dare to ask me for a solution? It's like asking Seneca for a solution. You remember what he did? He committed suicide!

Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?

Arafat contradicts himself every five minutes. He always plays the double-cross, lies even if you ask him what time it is.

You cannot survive if you do not know the past.

The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period.

I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.

I cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics.

I am disgusted by the anti-Semitism of many Italians, of many Europeans.

The Muslims refuse our culture and try to impose their culture on us. I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture-it is toward my values, my principles, my civilization.

I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.

Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.

Why do the people humiliate themselves by voting? I didn't vote because I have dignity. If I had closed my nose and voted for one of them, I would spit on my own face.

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon.