La Bella Figura Quotes

“First of all, let's get one thing straight. Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It's alluring, but complicated. It's the kind of place that can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred meters, or in the course of ten minutes. Italy is the only workshop in the world that can turn out both Botticellis and Berlusconis.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“Orson Welles used to say that Italy was full of actors—fifty million of them—almost all good. He claimed the few bad ones were on the stage, or the cinema screen.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“A numbered seat is a right, and heaven help anyone who tries to take it away. Parking responsibly is a duty, which means it is negotiable.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“Tuscan is an unambiguous tongue that bristles with restrained violence.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“Italy's climate is an instigation to indulge. If we had Scottish weather in Italy, there would have been several revolutions. Instead, we lodged the occasional protest, make a lot of promises, and talked.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“An airport in Italy is violently Italian.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

“First of all, let's get one thing straight. Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It's alluring, but complicated. In Italia, you can go round and round in circles for years. Which of course is great fun.”
― Beppe Severgnini, La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind