The Leopard

"We were the leopards, the lions, those who take our place will be jackals and sheep, and the whole lot of us - leopards, lions, jackals and sheep - will continue to think ourselves the salt of the earth."

"Sleep, my dear Chevalley, eternal sleep, that is what Sicilians want. And they will always resent anyone who tries to awaken them, even to bring them the most wonderful of gifts. And, between ourselves, I doubt very strongly whether this new Kingdom has very many gifts for us in its luggage. All Sicilian expression, even the most violent, is really a wish for death. Our sensuality, wish for oblivion. Our knifings and shootings, a hankering after extinction. Our laziness, our spiced and drugged sherbets, a desire for voluptuous immobility, that is... for death again."

"[of the Sicilians] They never want to improve. They think themselves perfect. Their vanity is greater than their misery."

"You know what is happening in our country? Nothing... simply an imperceptible replacement of one class for another. The middle class doesn't want to destroy us. It simply wants to take our place... and very gently."

"I belong to an unlucky generation, astride between two worlds and ill-at-ease in both. And what is more, I am completely without illusions. Now, what would the Senate do with me, an inexperienced legislator who lacks the faculty for self-deception, an essential requisite for wanting to guide others. No, I cannot lift a finger in politics. It would be bitten off."

"[to Father Pirrone] You're used to naked souls. You should know that naked bodies are far more innocent."

"Things will have to change in order that they remain the same."

"Yes, love, of course! Fire and flames for a year, ashes for thirty. I too know what love is."

"We're not blind in spirit, Father. We're just human beings in a changing world."

"It seems Donna Bastiana is a kind of animal. She can't read, write, or tell time. She can barely talk. She's even incapable of loving her own daughter. Good for bed, and that's all. But what can you expect? You know whose daughter she is? She's the daughter of one of your peasants from Runci. His name was Peppe Giunta. He was so filthy and savage that everyone called him Peppe Cowshit."

"If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change."

"Burt Lancaster - Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina"

"Claudia Cardinale - Angelica Sedara / Bertiana"

"Alain Delon - Tancredi Falconeri, Don Fabrizio's nephew"

"Paolo Stoppa - Don Calogero Sedara, Mayor of Donnafugata"

"Rina Morelli - Princess Maria Stella of Salina, Don Fabrizio's wife"

"Romolo Valli - Father Pirrone"

"Terence Hill (billed as Mario Girotti) - Count Cavriaghi"

"Pierre Clémenti - Francesco Paolo"

"Lucilla Morlacchi - Concetta"

"Giuliano Gemma - Garibaldi's General"

"Ida Galli - Carolina"

"Ottavia Piccolo - Caterina"

"Carlo Valenzano - Paolo"

"Brook Fuller - Little Prince"

"Anna Maria Bottini - Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess"

"Olimpia Cavalli - Mariannina"

"Rina De Liguoro - Princess of Presicce"

"Ivo Garrani - Colonel Pallavicino"

"Leslie French - Cavalier Chevalley"

"Serge Reggiani - Don Francisco "Ciccio" Tumeo, church organist, Don Fabrizio's hunting companion"

"Lou Castel - party guest"