Politicians From Italy

"Previti is something of a Lombrosian symbol of the Italian political system's ills. He is the person most responsible for the situation in Italy, second only to Berlusconi."

"It is clear that the current electronic voting system is unable to effectively safeguard the secrecy of MPs’ votes and, consequently, it would be appropriate to use another system for this purpose, for example, one involving black and white balls to be placed in the ballot box, perhaps inside mobile booths."

"The former AN members are in a state of perpetual congress; every now and then the mechanism kicks in."

"In the face of death, it is clear that political differences fade away. For this reason, we express our deepest condolences on the death of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who was always – in all the political and institutional roles he held – a consistent and fierce political opponent of ours."

"(Referring to the onti Government) This Government had three objectives, or at least three slogans: austerity, growth, fairness. As far as austerity is concerned, there has been an extraordinary and exceptional degree of it. We acknowledge that the Government has gone beyond even what was required by the economic and financial logic of Italy and the international context. Zero growth, zero fairness: this is our assessment of this government, and we also note that we have been faced with a unilateral policy in terms of a formal 45 per cent and a substantial 55 per cent increase in the tax burden, accompanied by such deep cuts to the spending of local authorities, regions and municipalities that the repercussions will be felt, be felt by ordinary citizens, and further exacerbated by that utterly sadistic measure that was the IMU."

"(About the incident involving the Italian fishing boat fired upon by a Libyan patrol boat) We are dealing with a counterpart who is addafi, a man with unique characteristics but one with whom we must reckon. He could dump thousands and thousands of immigrants on our shores. The whole fishing boat incident must be condemned; it is deplorable, but a break with Gaddafi and with Libya would have disastrous consequences for our country."

"In the coming hours we will see the true scale of the Wikileaks operation and will therefore be able to give a considered assessment. In any case, it is now clear that the very concept of terrorism has come to have a much broader meaning than the traditional one. It is evident that there is a form of media terrorism which, in certain respects, can be far more effective than traditional terrorism. In Italy, this modern and sophisticated form of terrorism has been underway for some time and has become increasingly aggressive in recent months."

"The proposal to lower the age of majority is one of the issues on the table but it is not the most urgent one."

"I recall when Paolo Guzzanti was chairman of the Mitrokhin parliamentary commission, which was tasked with investigating the illegal activities of the Soviet secret services in Italy up until 1984. Guzzanti wanted to ascertain whether Romano Prodi had been a Russian agent. This was absolutely untrue, even though he had very close ties with Moscow through the Prometeia association. In his hunt for this evidence, Guzzanti found himself caught up in a clash between Russian spies who were in the habit of using polonium to eliminate troublesome figures. So much so that his car was kept well away from Berlusconi’s residence. And the men in my security detail kept their distance from Guzzanti’s security detail, for fear of being contaminated by any radiation. This was, and is, Putin."

"Berlusconi has great respect for women and no inclination to pay a woman to have a relationship with him."

"I have said before that there was a bond of psychological homosexuality between Berlusconi and Putin: they admired one another and theirs was a relationship of absolute equality. Putin regarded this Italian entrepreneur, who controlled the television networks and had managed to make a name for himself in politics, as a genius. In turn, Berlusconi regarded him as a pragmatist, capable of running a country like Russia and with whom one could do many things together: from business to women."

"We do not believe that turning a self-deprecating joke into a gruesome and vulgar challenge to the public is the height of proper reporting. Unfortunately, that is what Enzo Biagi is doing today in the Corriere della Sera. All this is topped off with a grossly sexist remark directed at the provincial coordinator of Forza Italia in Bolzano. If there were a festival of bad taste and misinformation today, this time Biagi would have won first prize."

"It is regrettable that some Fini supporters have aped Travaglio, plundering his books and writings to the full."

"The law is the same for everyone, but its application is not necessarily so."

"(Regarding the secret dossier on Ilaria Alpi) I have absolutely no recollection of having given that document to the then-Chief of Police, and I certainly did not grant any investigative authority to Gianni De Gennaro."

"I never held any major positions in the PSI, but I had the honor of being a friend of Craxi."

"At the beginning of our relationship, he was a free spirit, very much aligned with the libertine ideal embodied by Franco Califano, his idol and dearest friend. I was insecure and saw danger everywhere; today, I don’t. Family comes first for both of us. However, at the start of our relationship, he was easily distracted—that’s for sure."

"[What are the necessary requirements and professional skills?] There are so many of them that, for this very reason, web specializations have multiplied in recent years. A webmaster must certainly have a deep understanding of the world of communication. Graphic design, photography, writing, and elements of psychology are essential foundations. Programming languages or software usage take a back seat."

"We had asked Salvini, through Fico, to provide a briefing. Salvini refused, and this is very serious. [...] Such a significant issue—relations with Russia, our place within the Atlantic alliance, and relations with these individuals from whom Salvini has not yet distanced himself—cannot be discussed during Question Time, which has strict time limits and a rigid format. You cannot just pop into the chamber for two minutes. You come to the chamber to engage in a debate and explain to Italians in full detail what has happened, and also to hear the opposition’s arguments. [...] If he does not show up, he will first and foremost be showing disrespect for the Italian Republic, and secondly for the Democratic Party."

"Salvini and the Five Star Movement, including Conte, acted a bit like Dracula with the blood bank. In reality, he was only concerned with feeding himself and his power—a power that is destructive to the country. Salvini has a different vision of society. I had said even before this government was formed that the Five Star Movement had nothing to do with the League. And even a year before this crazy political saga, I was among those who hoped for a different kind of alliance."

"When you no longer care for the poor, when you don’t reconnect the suburbs, the local markets, the unemployed youth, the young people in precarious jobs, and the pensioners living on the minimum pension to the very heart of the country—and through them, reach out to the institutions—you simply turn to the right and go your own way. [...] We thought that saying, “I’ll scrap everything, change everything, send them home,” because the country wasn’t working, would be enough. And yet, when put to the test by the government, this “scrapping” clearly failed to convince Italians."

"[This isn't the time for campaign booths. Who killed the PD?] Our generation bears a very heavy responsibility. We thought we were going to explain to those who came before us how the world worked, but instead we brought the PD down to 18% and caused the collapse of the center-left. [Is it Renzi’s fault?] The "scrapping" campaign failed spectacularly; it was a cultural and political disaster."

"[What will Boccia contribution to the new Democratic Party leadership?] I will bring the dedication and enthusiasm with which I initially ran for the party leadership, focusing on three key issues: full-time schooling, repealing the Jobs Act, and the Democratic Party’s sudden shift toward addressing the concerns of the environmental movement."

"You cannot govern a country by isolating yourself. The League has isolated itself in Europe. Unfortunately, a year ago, the PD isolated itself in Italy. Today, we are at the center of this political debate."

"[How did you get started in this field?] Professionally speaking, it all started by chance. I studied advertising and specialized as an art director in 1992. In 1995, I discovered the Internet and was struck by the fact that most websites were created by programmers who had no knowledge of visual communication."

"(About Pippo Baudo) He's someone who works hard and well. A great professional, but as a person he's rubbish."

"She's not a turncoat, but what happened to her is monstrous. Today's Pivetti, all leather and studs, bald and with her boobs out, looks like the daughter of the one in the Chamber with her scarf and suit."

"I had a moment of weakness at the end of my marriage and cheated on my husband. I still congratulate myself. It was the first time I had fallen in love. But no important lovers. I had many important suitors."

"(About Roberto Benigni) He said defamatory things about me and Berlusconi. [Live from Sanremo with the programme L'Italia allo specchio, in the episode aired on 20 February 2009]."

"I was treated in an indecent, unseemly manner by Mr Benigni. He said some monstrous things. (Live from Sanremo with the programme La vita in diretta, Intervento a La vita in diretta, 20 February 2009()."

"The market pays. And then you get a lot of spring onions and cherries. A Neapolitan man in Pioltello gave me a fish. He started shouting: ‘Zanicca! Zanicca! Vote for Zanicca’. [During the campaign for the 2004 European elections]"

"You other men are lucky... until you're ninety... I'm over sixty, I'm done."

"I am not diplomatic. For the sake of humour, I say anything. And then I regret it."

"(About Mikīs Theodōrakīs) He was the greatest composer of Mediterranean music of the twentieth century: by Mediterranean, I mean the entire tradition of the countries bordering that sea, including our own. His notes were and are the essence of that spirit, of that soul."

"Fini should get lost. He's not part of the PDL. If he wants to leave, let him go."

"Ours is a strange job. If you work, you earn money; if you don't work, you don't."

"I really like Renato Zero: he is a great artist, and he confirmed this to me in Venice, if ever there was any need. He knows how to hold the stage, he has that extra something that makes him great, beyond what he sings and what he says. I don't know him very well as a person, but in Venice he was very affectionate and kind to my daughter Michela, and so he won me over completely. He's not pretentious, he's sensitive, elegant, in short, I like him a lot."

"I didn't have a very high fee. But I had sponsors. For ten years, I advertised mattresses. In the end, I looked like a mattress."

"The driving force must come from those who can do more, i.e., from politics and institutions. Those who govern society at any level must show what it means to be human. Because example is the only thing that matters, the example set by those at the top makes collective effort possible. Only through example can rulers obtain consent to sacrifices."

"The inability to perceive differences afflicts all generations today, but it is particularly insidious for young people who have grown up under the banner of “nothing is impossible”: I can go to America in a few hours, dance all night, fill my eyes with hundreds of images in a few minutes, I can, I can, I can... a bulimia of quantity in which quality, that is, meaning, dissolves. In terms of time, speed is dominant."

"The essence of education is to promote the experience of difference and the exercise of enjoying what is not trivial, thus forming strong personalities."

"Among the characters frequently encountered in the great theater of Pulcinella that is Naples, there is not only the “guappo.” There is also the “soul of Purgatory.” On the walls at street corners in authentically working-class Neapolitan neighborhoods, one often finds votive shrines with Madonnas and saints, as well as “souls of Purgatory.” Their artistic value is nil, but their anthropological and cultural significance is very interesting. [...] It is not the devils of Hell or the angels of Heaven that inhabit Naples, but the souls of Purgatory. They are an intermediate population, whose only destiny is to try to save themselves from the worst depths and rise towards a definitive salvation from which they remain fatally distant. And the common people pray for the souls in Purgatory; they have a prominent place in their devotion. [...] The soul in Purgatory represents those who are not completely lost, who have not fallen into Hell, who have not disappeared, swallowed up in the bottomless cavities of the ground in Naples. In one way or another, Neapolitans nestle in these cavities and do not get lost: rather, like the soul in Purgatory, they remain suspended, halfway between high and low, between Paradise and Hell. Vertically, they move without changing place, without ever moving, just as horizontally a cyclist does, who, skillfully exercising their strength on the pedals, neither advances nor retreats: standing still on two wheels, they remain in balance or, as they say, ‘surplace’. [...] In the same way, the Neapolitan, without ever taking a step forward or backward, maintains his balance in his immobility."

"This is a theme that we have been pursuing for millennia, asking ourselves what is specific to Naples, if there is anything specific to Naples. From an approximate, empirical point of view, Naples certainly has the singularity of a character among its inhabitants that is very open to relationships with others. This has its historical origins. Those who live in the Basso, a few steps away from each other, are inevitably accustomed to a common custom, and it is this common custom that helps them in times of danger or difficulty. This is the first aspect. And it is on this fundamental, basic aspect that a whole culture develops. Neapolitan culture is a culture of community, of being together, as one might say. It is then a question of analyzing whether this being together is only a superficial attempt to remedy what we lack, that is, something deeper than our living, or whether this being together is itself the profound living that we seek. It is all to be decided, and we have not yet decided it in millennia."

"Leopardi argued that modern man no longer feels passion and emotion, that he spends his life in boredom. This state of mind, this fundamental insensitivity to difference, is accentuated today by the wealth of resources at our disposal, which multiply technical possibilities by pursuing quantity for its own sake."

"Naples is the city of longevity, it is always the ‘new city’, reborn ‘new’ in the 5th century BC, Greek in blood and spirit, but hybridized by countless cultures, offended by long oppression and never surrendered. Every time 'capta cepit". Its genius is not only concentrated in its extraordinary philosophers, from Bruno of Nola and therefore a fellow countryman to the great Vico, but also in the fabric of popular culture. The Neapolitan has no irony, but sharp wit: thus he defends himself not from life, like the ironic, but in life."

"Naples, in my dream, even if hopping and mocking like Pulcinella, will manage to build self-respect. [...] I have often reproached Naples for its shortcomings, for this bourgeoisie that I have deplored for its lack of unity. In Naples, there are many good bourgeois, but not a class that knows how to elevate the collective life of all through the effort of common dialogue, of a project. :*Quoted in ‘’The dream of Masullo, honorary citizen: ‘I would like Naples to build respect for itself’'‘, ilmattino.it, June 8, 2018."

"Giordano Bruno represented a break between the pre-modern and modern eras with his thinking. The pre-modern era involved the idea that there is an order in society as in everything else and that this order is vertical: from top to bottom; something, therefore, that clearly takes the form of a hierarchy. What Bruno brings to philosophy is the infinity of the universe. In an infinite universe, there are no absolute centers: every point is relatively a center, with respect to all the others. With Bruno, there is therefore a transition from a hierarchical vision to one that I would not hesitate to define as anarchic!"

"The West has lost its faith but not the wisdom and hope of faith [...], the Christian roots of the West appear precisely when they are no longer recognised."

"I have always noticed that the only figure defined as "unjust" in the Gospel is that of a judge: and it seemed to me an apt definition. Fascism was less hateful than this robed bureaucracy that used violence in the name of justice. In the history of Italy, if freedom had prevailed, as I now believe to be certain, the names of the magistrates of Milan, Antonio Di Pietro, Borrelli, Davigo, and Boccassini would have been forever signati nigro lapillo as figures to be remembered with horror, those of the unjust judge."

"The primacy of personal freedom – writes Don Gianni, referring to the social order – indicates the transcendence of the person over society... this idea is a Christian legacy: it is divine life communicated to the person by the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ: every person has become an end in relation to society because of the primacy of Jesus Christ as a person who lives in other people. (p. 136)"