As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
Silvio Berlusconi: 49 quotes1 like
Famous Silvio Berlusconi Quotes
On aging, as quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
“I am absolutely sure to be the most democratic man to ever become Prime Minister in Italy.”
ASCA (25 January 2002)
2002
“Only Napoleon did more than I have done. But I am definitely taller.”
As quoted in Reuters (9 February 2006), "Berlusconi's boundless modesty: first it's Napoleon, now he's Jesus" by John Hooper, in The Guardian (13 February 2006) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/13/italy.johnhooper, and "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
Silvio Berlusconi Quotes about the trip
“Do it my way and earn more money.”
Advice to Italians trying to escape poverty, in an interview with Italian Telelombardia (6 March 2006)
2006
Addressing the commander of the special italian police corp, Guardia di Finanza, whose job is to fight financial fraud and tax evasion in November of 2003, quoted in la Repubblica (17 febbraio 2004) http://www.repubblica.it/2004/b/sezioni/politica/cdlverifica2/candida/candida.html <br class="br">2003
In a speech in Milan, while heading a coallition which includes parties with fascist roots, as quoted in "Berlusconi praises Mussolini on Holocaust Memorial Day" at BBC News (27 January 2013) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21222341 <br class="br">2013
On the TV program L'infedele, called in during the show, reported in Berlusconi insults Lerner live: you run a brothel program, in Repubblica (25 January 2011) http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2011/01/24/news/berlusconi_lerner-11616866/ <br class="br">2011
Silvio Berlusconi Quotes about women
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
“Let's talk about football and women. … Gerhard, why don't you start?”
At the Brussels summit, turning to the four-times-married German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, at the end of Italy's EU presidency, in December 2003, as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2003
As quoted in as quoted in "Silvio Berlusconi criticised for 'pretty girl' rape comment" in The Telegraph (26 January 2009) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/4339817/Silvio-Berlusconi-criticised-for-pretty-girl-rape-comment.html <br class="br">2009
Silvio Berlusconi Quotes
“We must be aware of the superiority of our civilization”
In response to the September 11 attacks of al-Queda, in Berlusconi: "Attacco mirato senza vittime fra i civili", in la Repubblica (26 September 2001) http://www.repubblica.it/online/mondo/italiadue/berlusconi/berlusconi.html <br class="br">2001 <br class="br">Context: We must be aware of the superiority of our civilization, a system that has guaranteed well-being, respect for human rights and — in contrast with Islamic countries — respect for religious and political rights, a system that has as its value understanding of diversity and tolerance … The West will continue to conquer peoples, even if it means a confrontation with another civilization, Islam, firmly entrenched where it was 1,400 years ago.
His response to widespread condemnation of the above comments, in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2001 <br class="br">Context: They have tried to hang me on an isolated word, taken out of context from my whole speech … I did not say anything against the Islamic civilization... It's the work of some people in the Italian leftist press who wanted to tarnish my image and destroy my long-standing relations with Arabs and Muslims.
Quoted in "Affari Italiani" magazine (7 April 2006)
2006
Confcommercio meeting in Rome (4 April 2006) as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2006
As quoted in "Silvio Berlusconi says judges out to 'destroy' him" in The Telegraph (16 February 2012) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/silvio-berlusconi/9086144/Silvio-Berlusconi-says-judges-out-to-destroy-him.html <br class="br">2012
“I have little hair because my brain is so big it pushes the hair out.”
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2001
As quoted in "Silvio Berlusconi booed by audience after angry TV rant" in The Telegraph (29 October 2009) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/6455488/Silvio-Berlusconi-booed-by-audience-after-angry-TV-rant.html <br class="br">2009
“Marcello Dell'Utri is right: Mangano was a hero, because he never invented anything about me.”
Statement during a television show on La7 (9 April 2008)
2007
“The journalist Enzo Biagi left the RAI out of free will … he did it for the money.”
As reported in "Veteran Italian journalist Enzo Biagi, 87, dies in Milan" in Herald Tribune (6 November 2007) http://web.archive.org/web/20081210192053/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/06/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Obit-Biagi.php; Enzo Biagi was one of the journalists that had to leave the RAI after the Editto Bulgaro of in 2002, in which he was accused by Berlusconi of making criminal use of television. <br class="br">2007
“To do that kind of job you must be mentally disturbed.”
On magistrates, as quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2003
“They're not gaffes. I've made no gaffes.”
On previous comments, as quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2008
On prosecutions against him, as quoted in "Silvio Berlusconi: I am inferior to no one in history" in The Guardian (10 October 2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/09/berlusconi-boast-best-in-history <br class="br">2009
On the 2011 Libyan protests, as quoted in EU Observer (21 February 2011) http://euobserver.com/9/31842 <br class="br">2011
“I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I sacrifice myself for everyone.”
At the launch of his 2006 campaign, as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm, and "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
“Churchill liberated us from the Nazis, Silvio Berlusconi is liberating us from communists.”
Speech in Ancona (11 February 2006), as quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
On Hosni Mubarak, in the relation to the 2011 Egyptian protests, as quoted in Berlusconi: Hosni Mubarak Is 'The Wisest Of Men http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/silvio-berlusconi-hosni-m_n_818651.html, in The Huffington Post (4 February 2011), and Berlusconi: Mubarak is a wise man at al Jazeera (February 2011) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201124194950335734.html <br class="br">2011
Statement to German MEP Martin Schulz, European Parliament (2 July 2003), as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm, "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy, and in Italian at "Silvio Berlusconi vs MEP Martin Schulz; relive the moment" at YouTube (16 April 2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bPqaqGJ5Js <br class="br">2003
“I wish luck to you and your nation that loves you as the election results we can see testify.”
On Alexander Lukashenko, as quoted in Results of the official visit of Silvio Berlusconi to Belarus at belarus.by (1 December 2009) the official website of the Republic of Belarus http://www.belarus.by/en/press-center/news/results-of-the-official-visit-of-silvio-berlusconi-to-belarus_i_0000000549.html <br class="br">2009
“People will vote for Daniela Santanchè because she is a beautiful babe.”
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
“I used all my playboy skills and courted the Finnish President.”
At the opening of the European Food Authority in Parma (21 June 2005), when asked to explain how Italy managed to get the support of its biggest competitor over the EU Food Authority dispute), as reported in "Foreign Ministry summons Italian Ambassador over Berlusconi comments" in Helsingin Sanomat (22 June 2005) http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1101980006828 <br class="br">2005
“They keep calling me a dwarf, but I'm taller than Sarkozy and Putin.”
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
“Mussolini never killed anyone, he just sent dissenters abroad for vacation.”
As quoted in La voce di Rimini (11 September 2003) <br class="br">Variant translation: He never killed anyone, he sent people on holiday to confine them. <br class="br"> "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2003
On public school, in Adoptions, gay couples and public school in la Repubblica (1 March 2011) http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2011/02/26/news/berlusconi_rafforza-12922793/index.html <br class="br">2011
“Foreign press is usually leftist and describes us differently from what we really are.”
Speech to the association Azzurri nel mondo, Lugano (24 October 2004)
2004
At a rally in Naples (28 March 2006) as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2006
“By definition, as a Prime Minister I cannot be a liar.”
Italian Radio National Broadcast (18 January 2006)
2006
“Barack Obama being young, handsome and sun-tanned is going to get along with you swimmingly.”
On the US president-elect to Dmitry Medvedev, as quoted in 'Italy's Berlusconi hails "suntanned" Obama' in Reuters (6 November 2008) http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4A562120081106, "Berlusconi faces race row as he calls America's first black president 'suntanned'" in Mail on Sunday (6 November 2008) http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1083664/Berlusconi-faces-race-row-calls-Americas-black-president-suntanned.html <br class="br">2008
Denying the heaviness of the Italian crisis, during the news conference after the end of the G20 summit held in Cannes (3-4 November 2011), as reported in "Napolitano ammonisce: attuare impegni. Premier: la crisi non c'è, ristoranti pieni" in Il Messaggero (4 November 2011) http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=168779&sez=HOME_INITALIA&ssez=POLITICA, and "Silvio Berlusconi shrugs off IMF's financial checks on Italy. Prime minister insists Italy is in good health, with debts under control, and points to full restaurants as proof of strength" in The Guardian (4 November 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/silvio-berlusconi-imf-italy <br class="br">2011
“I'm a man of honour, a truthful person, a gentleman of absolute morality.”
As quoted in "La Repubblica" (13 July 2003)
2003
['New Milan manager must play two strikers,' says Silvio Berlusconi http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jul/20/milan-silvio-berlusconi], July 20, 2010.
2010
“The public prosecutor … should be subject to regular examinations to attest to sanity.”
Calling for psychiatric examinations in regard to the life sentence of the Mafia-member Vittorio Mangano, whom Senator Marcello Dell'Utri, called a hero, as reported in 'Berlusconi: "Perizie per i pm" Dell'Utri: "Mangano un eroe" 'in la Repubblica (8 April 2008) http://www.repubblica.it/2008/04/sezioni/politica/verso-elezioni-18/berlusconi-toghe/berlusconi-toghe.html <br class="br">2007
“The left has always been on the wrong side. They were against Hitler, but not against Stalin.”
Quoted in la Repubblica (3 February 2005)
2005
Quoted in Corriere della Sera (17 January 2005)
2005
Speaking at his party's convention in Sardinia (28 January 2006), as reported in Il Giornale (29 January 2006) <br class="br">Variant translation: I'll try not to let you down and I promise you two and a half months of complete sexual abstinence until election day. <br class="br">As reported in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
On Italy, as reported in "Italy on 'edge of abyss', says Silvio Berlusconi, offering a hand" in The Guardian (9 December 2012) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/09/italy-edge-abyss-silvio-berlusconi <br class="br">2012
