Quotes from Oriana Fallaci

Why do the people humiliate themselves by voting? I didn't vote because I have dignity. If I had closed my nose and voted for one of them, I would spit on my own face.

When my father was arrested, we didn't know where they had him. My mother found him at the house of torture. It was called Villa Triste.

Equality ... like freedom, exists only where you are now. Only as an egg in the womb are we all equal.

I am known for a life spent in the struggle for freedom, and freedom includes the freedom of religion.

Physical courage is a great test.

The increased presence of Muslims in Italy and in Europe is directly proportional to our loss of freedom.

I cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics.

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. There must be some human truth that is beyond religion.

I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.

I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger.

Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?

War is something Arafat sends others to do for him. That is, the poor souls who believe in him. This pompous incompetent caused the failure of the Camp David negotiations, Clinton's mediation.

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon.

I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born. I have always looked on the silence of those who do not react or who indeed applaud as the real death of a woman or man.

In my old age, I have been thinking about this, and I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage.

I don't want to hear about my death.

Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't. . .out of respect for DeGaulle and Disraeli. I described him as a cowboy because thats how he described himself. If I were a cowboy I would be offended.

I'll parade with those who are alone like me. They exist. They are very few, but they exist. I'll find them.

Ogni responsabilità è della donna, ogni sofferenza, ogni insulto. Puttana, le dite se ha fatto l'amore con voi. La parola puttano non esiste nel dizionario: usarla è un errore di glottologia.

the world changes and remains the same.

The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilisation is dead. Period.

I leave shreds of my soul on every experience.

Ho guadagnato una vita, un biglietto per la morte, e viaggio ancora. In certi momenti ho creduto d'essere giunto, alla fine del viaggio mi sbagliavo. Erano solo imprevisti del cammino.

Non ho mai capito come faccia a ridere in quel modo: ma penso che sia perché ha pianto molto. Solo chi ha pianto molto può apprezzare la vita nelle sue bellezze, e ridere bene.