Aldo Moro

"The liberal conception of economic matters is indeed untenable, as there is a need for regulation in line with a more comprehensive framework for the global economy, not least in order to achieve the greatest possible prosperity. When we speak of control of the economy, however, we do not mean that the State should be the manager of all economic activities, but we are referring to the State in the complexity of its powers and therefore largely to the State which does not exclude individual initiatives, but coordinates, regulates and guides them."

"Decentralisation in the management of common interests, the establishment of more local and controllable centres, and the trust placed in those directly concerned are all means of bringing power closer to the governed and humanising it as a guarantee of its proper purpose."

"The party seeks to engage with reality, to guide and shape it according to its intuition, in the light of its human ideals. For a party, and above all a party such as ours, is an obligatory point of passage from society to the State, from the particular to the universal, from fact to law. It is called upon to understand reality, but also to pass judgement on it and provide a guiding principle. It starts from individual positions, yet already amalgamates them, already effecting a synthesis in which the State begins to exist. The party, far from exhausting its task in a crystallisation achieved once and for all, maintains a permanent dialogue which constantly verifies the validity of the legal framework and ensures its continuous adaptation to the living demands of social life and thus to a criterion of substantive justice."

"Nehru is undoubtedly one of humanity’s great figures and had already secured his place in history during his lifetime. [...] He was a model of understanding between the civilisations of the East and the West. Much is certainly owed to this fact, as it enabled him, in his global activities, to exert a moderating influence by promoting respect for the institutions of international cooperation. His loss affects the whole of humanity."

"To get things done, one needs all the time that is required."

"There must be no scapegoats, no human sacrifices... The Christian Democrats are closing ranks around their own... You will not put us on trial in the streets; we will not allow ourselves to be put on trial."

"Race is the biological element which, by creating particular affinities, determines the identification of the specific sphere of social experience, which is the primary distinguishing feature of the particularities of the State."

"When one speaks the truth, one must not regret having spoken it: the truth is always enlightening."

":Also quoted at the beginning of the film Five Moons Square."

"It is not enough to say this simply to have a clear conscience: we have our limits; we are politicians, and the most appropriate and reliable thing we can do is to give free rein to justice, to ensure that a judge – finally, a true judge – can deliver his verdict. :*from a speech to the Chamber of Deputies on the Lockheed scandal, 11 March 1977; from Scritti e discorsi, edited by Giuseppe Rossini, Cinque lune, 1982."

"Power is truly and solely legitimised through continuous contact with its human roots and is subject to an insurmountable limit: the social forces that matter in their own right, the growth of decision-making centres, and the pluralism that expresses the irreducible multiplicity of the free forms of community life. (during the 11th Congress of the Christian Democrats, Rome, 29 June 1969)"

"The democratic state, the state of human dignity, the state founded on the dignity of every person and which guarantees the dignity of every person, is a state in which every action is removed from arbitrariness and tyranny, in which every sphere of interest and power obeys a strict delimitation of justice, an objective criterion which is, by its very nature, liberating; it is a state in which public power itself takes the form, measure and limits of the law, and the law, as a general provision, is an act of clarity, an assumption of responsibility, a general and equal commitment. (from the speech delivered in Milan, 3 October 1959)"

"No one is called upon to choose between being in Europe and in the Mediterranean, since the whole of Europe lies within the Mediterranean."

"And, as regards this question of punishment—of what form punishment should take—a negative judgement must, in principle, be passed not only on capital punishment, which instantly and definitively removes the offender from society, but also on life imprisonment: life imprisonment, which, being devoid of any hope, any prospect, any incentive for repentance and rehabilitation, appears no less cruel and inhumane than the death penalty."

"We speak, with good reason, of a rift between civil society and political society, and we observe a certain crisis within the parties, a decline in their authority, and a diminished ability to resolve the problems of national life on the basis of understanding, consensus and trust. But is there not, at the root of this inadequate presence of the parties, an inability on our part, as the political class, to make use of the critical conscience and the willpower of the democratic grassroots?"

"Be independent. Do not look to tomorrow but to the day after tomorrow."

"(Writing to Benigno Zaccagnini) Due to an obvious incompatibility, I ask that neither State authorities nor party officials attend my funeral. I ask to be followed by the few who truly loved me and are therefore worthy of accompanying me with their prayers and their love."

"Returning to you, Hon. Andreotti, who, to our misfortune and that of the country (which will soon realise it), heads the Government, it is not my intention to dwell on your lacklustre career. This is no fault of yours. One can be lacklustre, yet honest; lacklustre, yet good; lacklustre, yet full of fervour. Well, Mr Andreotti, this is precisely what you lack [...] You lack precisely that human fervour. You lack that combination of goodness, wisdom, flexibility and clarity which, without reservation, characterise the few Christian Democrats in the world. You are not one of them. It will last a little longer, a little less, but it will pass without leaving a trace [...] It will pass into the sad annals of history, especially now, which suits you."

"One does not stand as a candidate for the Quirinale; one is nominated."

"Of course, I cannot fail to highlight the malice of all those Christian Democrats who sought to force me into a post against my will; a post which, had it been necessary for the Party, should have been secured for me even if it meant agreeing to a prisoner exchange. I am convinced that would have been the wisest course of action. Even at this critical juncture, my deep personal bitterness remains. Has no one come forward to distance themselves? Someone ought to tell Giovanni what political activity means. Has no one regretted pushing me to take this step, which I clearly did not want to take? And Zaccagnini? How can he remain calm in his position? And Cossiga, who could not come up with any defence? My blood will be on their hands."

"(Giulio Andreotti) President Carter’s diplomatic courtesy – attributing to you (it is clear he knows little about it) all the successes of the thirty-year Christian Democrat era – will not be enough for you to go down in history. You will go down in the sad annals of history, especially now, which suits you well."

"He had a sense of party loyalty. He was uncompromising, even intolerant. Perhaps he was less flexible than I was."

"Moro alive is of no use to anyone anymore."

"Aldo Moro was from Maglie, my mother’s home town. They used to play together as children. My mother, his sister Raffaella and Aldo – perhaps the only decent politician this country has ever had."

"Fanfani is an erupting volcano, albeit intermittently; Moro, on the other hand, is seething inside."

"Illegal funding has always existed. Malagodi took money from Confindustria; Moro stood up to defend Gui. It’s just that they had... the guts. We let ourselves be torn apart, our parliamentary immunity stripped away."

"I care for Moro and have given him plenty of good advice. But he doesn’t follow it and has got it into his head that I am his rival. Once Moro gets an idea into his head, there is no way to change it."

"(About the politicians who will go down in the history of the Christian Democrats) Dossetti, De Gasperi, but I could also add Piccioni, La Pira, and Moro. I have never seen people of that calibre, of that character, of that stature, in the party again."

"Moro is the man who emerges from his letters, those letters he wrote whilst a prisoner of the Red Brigades, which are the most painful and humiliating words ever to have come from a prison. The "distinguished statesman" who, when push comes to shove, renounces all the principles of the rule of law, seems to regard the State and its institutions as his own private property, and invites his party colleagues and the Republic’s leading representatives to do the same. The man who asks for mercy for himself but, in ninety letters, has not a single word for the men of his security police, killed for him; indeed, the only mention he makes of them is coldly bureaucratic, describing them as "administratively unfit". The politician who confirms the tradition of the Italian ruling class, ready to demand everything—even life itself—from the humble, yet never willing, on the rare occasions it happens, to pay the price personally (think of Mussolini fleeing under a German overcoat, or the way the king and Badoglio abandoned Rome). To say these things about a man who died as Moro did may seem—indeed, is—cruel. But it is the truth. And since I wrote these things whilst Moro was still alive ("Distinguished statesman or poor man?". Il Lavoro, 4 April 1978),"

"I have no qualms about repeating them now that he is dead and further details are emerging to complete the picture."

"I'm at peace with that man. It was a war, with allies and adversaries. A conflict like the one we saw in those years caused so much suffering."

"When it comes to Moro, we must look beyond emotions, and even beyond the as yet unresolved questions regarding the circumstances of his captivity, his sacrifice and the motives of his killers, and seek to continue exploring the relevance of his political legacy today."

"Luigi Gui, from an article published in Le Prospettive del Mondo; quoted in La dc ricorda Moro (ucciso 5 anni fa), La Stampa, 9 May 1983."

"[At a summit at the Foreign Ministry following Aldo Moro’s speech] Anyone who speaks in this way can only be a swindler and can only represent a people of swindlers."

"Moro was clearly the most prominent figure. He was as taciturn as he was intelligent; he possessed a formidable intellectual reputation. The only concrete evidence I had of his intellect was the Byzantine complexity of his syntax. [...] Moro clearly had no interest in international affairs. He was the party’s strategist par excellence, destined to devise new avenues in domestic politics with extraordinary subtlety; he took on the Foreign Affairs portfolio not out of any deep-seated vocation, but purely and simply as a springboard to power."

"Aldo Moro. Dr Divago."

"Although Moro’s papers, and countless photographs and testimonies, speak of great popular affection for him, Moro was certainly one of the most controversial leaders this country has ever had: particularly among politicians and intellectuals, he found fierce detractors and passionate supporters; he was – like few others – both loved and downright hated."

"Many other Catholic leaders, even with a secular sensibility, would have sought a synthesis between the religious and political dimensions: this synthesis is absent in Moro; and not by mistake, or lack of awareness, but because of the fundamentally secular roots of his politics. Perhaps this is where, even today, his modernity lies."

"And the painful image comes to mind of a friend so dear to us, of an honest man, of a politician of great intellect and vast culture: Aldo Moro. What a void he has left in his party and in this assembly! Had he not been cruelly murdered, he, not I, would be speaking to you today from this seat."

"A man of great intelligence, but extremely shy. He hated cameras and refused to have make-up applied in the studio. He wore a waistcoat, could not bear anyone touching him and at the same time was afraid to show this idiosyncrasy."

"He is the embodiment of southern pessimism. Centuries of the sirocco, it was said, are in his gaze."