Fausto Cercignani Quotes

Fausto Cercignani is an Italian scholar, essayist and poet.

✵ 21. March 1941

Fausto Cercignani photo

Pierre Abbé, Own work / CC BY-SA 3.0

Fausto Cercignani: 65 quotes1 like

Famous Fausto Cercignani Quotes

“Perhaps it is not true that “a man becomes what he dreams”; but if he does not dream, what kind of a man is he?”

Fausto Cercignani

This quote is itself quoting Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman in the film Grey Owl (1999)
Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni

““Tomorrow is another day” is something you can say only to yourself, not to the person you want to comfort.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If sudden, the visit of the Grim Reaper cannot be unwelcome.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The best speeches are those that hurt your mind, not your ear.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If use becomes abuse, we should intervene at once, for if abuse becomes habit, then there is no remedy.”

Fausto Cercignani

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““Love the others and you will be loved!” is a saying that might sound as a terrible and unjust accusation against all the innocents that have been hated and perhaps even tortured and killed.”

Fausto Cercignani

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Fausto Cercignani Quotes about people

“Courtesy is fundamental: sometimes it keeps at bay even snarling people.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Some people maintain that what one believes becomes true, but the poor sick person who has hoped in vain would certainly not agree.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Personal dignity is to be measured with the yardstick of one’s conscience, not with that of other people’s judgement.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The best therapy for the imaginary invalid is very simple, but rarely applied. The subject should be taken to a place where people must bear atrocious sufferings and the loss of all human dignity.”

Fausto Cercignani

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Fausto Cercignani: Trending quotes

“Unity of intent is on the lips of many, but in the hearts of few.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Inner freedom demands the rejection of any imposition that injures our dignity.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Sometimes one would almost like to say: what really matters is only the mind. But where can you find a mind without a body?”

Fausto Cercignani

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Fausto Cercignani Quotes

“Genuine living and mere vegetating have only breathing in common (and a few other things).”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Sometimes moderation is a bad counselor.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Emulation can be positive, if you succeed in avoiding imitation.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you talk to the shadows,
at least you know them well
and the words, all of them,
unfold themselves with ease
on muddled walls and streets,
when dusk comes on.”

Fausto Cercignani

Adagio (2004)
Examples of self-translation (c. 2004)

“If you persevere in your rancor, you do nothing but keep feeding yourself on poison.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Titles are like clothes: they do not make the man.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“We learn a lot from the mistakes of others, but even more from our own.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Every human relationship implies compromises, but the limit to any compromise is one’s own dignity.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If on the web you search only for frivolous or sensational news (which are often false and slanderous), you will bring grist to the mill of those who maintain that the era of the web is by no means the “era of knowledge.””

Fausto Cercignani

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“Perhaps it is true that every human being is a potential monster, but if we disregard potentialities, then humankind can be divided into two main categories: human beings and human beasts.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you refuse to take account of theory, then you have forgotten that practice is often an offspring of theory.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Wishing to dare serves no purpose at all, if it remains a wish.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you look incessantly for variety, sooner or later you will discover that you need more wisdom.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you have no aim, you need not worry about the means.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Unlike money, hope is all: for the rich as well as for the poor.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If the unconscious is an abyss, how could Sigmund Freud get out of it?”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Do not confuse fantasy with imagination: the former consumes itself in daydreaming, the latter stimulates creativity in the arts and in the sciences.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Self-discipline is indispensable, if you want to master your character.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“You should only boast about having nothing to boast about!”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Order is a necessity for everyone, but not everyone understands it in the same way.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“As long as his strength permits, the poor mortal must always climb new mountains.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“No form and no degree of alleged liberty can justify calumny or the publication of calumnious material.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The origin of certain superstitions is often connected to the intention of attributing adverse events to specific causes.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Your will cannot always choose the path; very often the route is determined by chance or by the will of others.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Perhaps it is true that the trials of life always teach us something, but it is undeniable that we are not always so eager to learn.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you have never had a dream, perhaps you have only dreamt to be alive.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Calumny can injure you only if you reflect yourself in others and not in your conscience.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you despise habits so much, it is because you do not realize that nobody can do without them.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The loafer believes he is enjoying life, but sooner or later he must face disillusion.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The present is nothing else than the sum of what one perceives, remembers and hopes for.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“When one must fight, one had better do it without hesitation, according to his own nature.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Stellar wars are a sort of parallel reality in the filmic imagination, terrestrial wars are still today a harsh daily reality.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“A secret remains a secret until you make someone promise never to reveal it.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“They say there is a difference between actual temperature and perceived temperature, but in the “bearable heaviness of being” the actual measure is no doubt the weight we perceive.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The essence of my optimism is constructive pessimism.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“An exception is nothing else than a rule that applies exceptionally.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If I lost the privilege of being despised by certain individuals, I would certainly suspect that my actions and words are wrong in some way.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If you are living in the past or in the future, you will never find a meaning in the present.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Perfection is the dream of imperfection that refuses to wake up.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Sometimes true tolerance requires an extraordinary strength, which we are often too weak to exercise.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“It is certainly a good thing always to forgive with generosity, but it is no doubt just never to forget the wrongs received: they belong to the route that leads to inner maturity.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Your identity is like your shadow: not always visible and yet always present.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“If some speak ill of me, I will try to understand their reasons, but after my death I will certainly come to terms with it.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Refuse all excess, except in youthful enthusiasm.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“When you would suffocate or ignore dissent, remember how many times you dissented.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“The thesis that the human being seeks God because of the disorder he perceives in himself does not take into account that the human being seems to prefer disorder.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“They do not speak of boundless skies,
of passing loves like silver clouds.
They speak of cheerless towns, unwound:
on hazy moors of muffled music.”

Fausto Cercignani

Adagio (2004)
Examples of self-translation (c. 2004)

“Once I believed that sooner or later I would come across a really wise person; today I couldn’t even say what wisdom is.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Even good arguments fail, if they are spiced with digressions.”

Fausto Cercignani

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“Secret thoughts are only half free: they fly undisturbed in the skies of the inner freedom, but they can never leave them.”

Fausto Cercignani

Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni

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