314 Quotes About Italy

Here we are at last. The Italian proverb says “See Naples and die” but I say, see Naples and live; for there seems a great deal worth living for.

The student has his Rome, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library. He has in his books the ruins of an antique world and the glories of a modern one.

...is there anywhere in the world as full of beauty as Italy?

...living in Rome is either a one or a two, or a nine or ten. Not much in between. And some days it's both.

This is my Italy, she thought. The power and beauty of the antiquities, the detailed frescos, the imposing statuaries carved of milk white granite, Don Martinelli's hammered gold chalice, the glorious tones of the music, the Italy of Puccini and Verdi, Caruso and Toscanini, not the Italy of the shattered spirits in Hoboken and the drunken, desperate Anna Buffa. This was the Italy that fed her soul, where hope was restored and broken hearts were mended in the hands of great artists.

Quant aux toilettes, elles etainet tout simplement inexistantes. Pour faire ses besoins, il fallait aller plus loin, au bout du terrain, derriere les tas d'ordures. L'odeur y etait insupportable, des relents de pourri, de rance; une puanteur qui penetrait partout et qui restait en vous.

(The paradox of Italian soccer). As everyone knows, Italian men are the most foppish representatives of their sex on the planet. They smear on substantial quantities of hair care products and expend considerable mental energies color-coordinating socks with belts. Because of their dandyism, the world has Vespa, Prada, and Renzo Piano. With such theological devotion to aesthetic pleasure, it is truly perplexing that their national style of soccer should be so devoid of this quality.

Reading about other people's delightful lives, however, only brought an unwelcome comparison.

Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.