64 Quotes by Roberto Benigni

You’re serving. You’re not a servant. Serving is a supreme art. God is the first servant. God serves men but he’s not a servant to men. – Eliseo Orefice.

To laugh or cry is the most beautiful thing in the world.

It’s me, it’s my habit to perform live onstage every four, five years. In Italy, it’s my habit.

What is more simple than to tell to a little boy, ‘This is not the truth, it is a game?’

The first movie I saw – and I don’t know if it influenced me – was Ben Hur. We watched it outside in a corn field, and it ran backwards, so the first movie I ever saw was Ben Hur backwards.

Dante Alighieri is a universal poet, and great creators, they are writing for everybody always. Every single verse is very moving, and the beauty – if we don’t understand, we just stay listening to the sound and it’s like hearing music.

Only comedians can talk about death, life, God and Virgin Mary. If I was a tragic actor, I couldn’t allow myself. But with this accent I can do it. I can talk with death in person because I am a clown. Yes. And I am proud to be a clown – very much.

When I first saw a Fellini movie, I came out of the movie theatre and decided to become a lawyer! I thought to myself, it’s impossible to make something so beautiful!

My mother brought me magicians and witches, because I was very ugly, really revolting. So she thought somebody had put a spell on me – this is the truth – so she made me drink some horrible terrifying potions, for year.