“All dwellers in the Teutonic north, looking out at the winter sky, are subject to spasms of nearly irresistible pull, when the entire Italian peninsula from Trieste to Agrigento begins to function like a lodestone. The magnetism is backed by an unseen choir, there are roulades of mandoline strings in the air; ghostly whiffs of lemon blossom beckon the victims south and across the Alpine passes.”
Source: A Time of Gifts
“We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.”
Source: The Advancement Of Learning, Volume 2
“And I do believe that Italy really purifies and ennobles all who visit her. She is the school as well as the playground of the world.”
Source: Where Angels Fear to Tread
“Melancholy skies
and empty fields of gold
grey clouds
and emeralds days
our love in pieces
captured only by poems (of mine).”
“And don't, let me beg you, go with that awful tourist idea that Italy's only a museum of antiquities and art. Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land”
Source: Where Angels Fear to Tread
“Preferring confusion to order is not limited to waiting lines but spills over into other sectors of life, at least in Rome and other more southern regions of the country. One of these is driving, an area where stereotypes about Italians, or at least about Romans, tend to be confirmed. Gridlock, here caused by a willful invasion of the intersection, is a daily occurrence. Red lights and stop signs often are viewed as optional. Using la freccia (directional lights) to signal an intention to turn right or left is infrequent, to say the least, or else left to the last minute, that is when the driver has already begun his turn, frequently from the farthest lane on the opposite side of the roadway.”
Source: My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and loving) in Italy's Eternal City
“It is late afternoon and the daily, or nightly, game of cat and mouse between Rome’s vigili urbani, or traffic police, and the unlicensed street peddlers who set up their portable tables and lamps in Piazza Sant’Egidio where I live, or nearby, is about to start. And, as usual, the mice will win. Not because they are smarter but simply because they care more about breaking the law than the authorities care about enforcing it.”
Source: My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and loving) in Italy's Eternal City
“For historical reasons – centuries spent as the subjects of warring city-states with the rule of law often taking a back seat to power politics and family loyalties – many Italians, especially those from points south, have little respect for the law and, seemingly, little understanding of its purpose, which is that of setting the boundaries for civil cohabitation.”
Source: My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and loving) in Italy's Eternal City
“In Rome, instead, it is clear: people know that most of the time they can get away, not with murder, of course, but with many other misdemeanors. The result? Ignoring the rules has become a quasi national habit.”
Source: My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and loving) in Italy's Eternal City
“In Italy, most laws are honored more in the breach than the observance. “Fatta la legge, trovato l’inganno”, goes one saying that means, “pass a law and we’ll find a way to get around it”. You don’t have to spend much time in Rome to realize that stop signs, and even red lights, are often disregarded, as are those reading “no parking or standing”, and even “one way”.”
Source: My Home Sweet Rome: Living (and loving) in Italy's Eternal City