Quotes from Alessandro Manzoni

Ora sapete come è l'aspettativa: immaginosa, credula, sicura.

Los provocadores, los tiranos, todos los que, de un modo u otro, ofenden al prójimo, son reos, no sólo del mal que cometen, sino también de la perversión que llevan al ánimo de los ofendidos.

No harm comes to an honest man who minds his own business and knows his place.

Hizo como una mujer antaño joven, que pensara rejuvenecer alterando su partida de bautismo.

En los tumultos populares hay siempre cierto número de hombres que, o por acaloramiento de pasión, o por persuasión fanática, o por un designio malvado, o por un perverso gusto del desorden, hacen todo lo posible por llevar las cosas al peor extremo; proponen o promueven los consejos más despiadados, soplan en el fuego cada vez que empieza a languidecer: nunca es demasiado para ellos; no querrían que el tumulto tuviera fin ni medida.

In the letter, Agnese's scribe, after complaining about how unclear the previous message was, went on to describe, in an almost equally clear manner, what he called the tremendous story of that person.

también el mundo hace sus leyes, que prescriben el bien y el mal; también tiene su evangelio, un evangelio de soberbia y de odio; y no quiere que se diga que el amor por la vida es una razón para transgredir sus mandamientos. No lo quiere; y es obedecido.

On his way through Monza, he passed by an open shop with bread loaves on display. He asked for two, so that he would have more for later. The baker gestured at him to stay outside, and passed him a bowl of water and vinegar on a small palette, telling him to toss the coins into it. Then he gave him the two bread loaves with a long pair of tongs, one at a time, which Renzo stuck in his pockets.

No sabíais que si el hombre promete demasiado a menudo más de lo que puede mantener, también amenaza no menos a menudo, más de lo que se atreve luego a cumplir?

Gentlemen now went out without their usual entourage, but they could be seen carrying a bag over their arms on their way to shop for food. When two friends ran into each other on the street, they would say hello from a distance, in hurried, wordless gestures.

La storia è costretta a indovinare. Fortuna che c'è avvezza.

At the time of the events I am about to relate, this already good-sized village was also fortified, which conferred upon it the honor of a commander in residence, and the benefit of a permanent garrison of Spanish soldiers, who taught modesty to the girls and women of the town, gave an occasional tap on the back to a husband or father, and, at summer's end, never failed to spread out into the vineyards to thin the grapes and relieve the peasants of the trouble of harvesting them.

He had a favorite sentence which he always used to conclude his harangues on such matters: No harm comes to an honest man who minds his own business and knows his place.

giacchè è uno dei vantaggi di questo mondo, quello di poter odiare ed essere odiati, senza conoscersi

Then she would faint once more and come to once more, only to relive new torments. My heart cannot bear to describe her ordeal any longer: An overwhelming sorrow makes me skip to the end of that journey, which lasted for more than four hours, after which we will still have some more agonizing hours to endure. Let us go now to the castle where the unhappy girl was being taken.

Con l'idee donna Prassede si regolava come dicono che si deve far con gli amici: n'aveva poche; ma a quelle poche era molto affezionata. Tra le poche, ce n'era per disgrazia molte delle storte; e non eran quelle che le fossero men care.

For Don Abbondio, the return trip was not nearly as distressing as the way there had been, but it wasn't exactly pleasant, either. His panic was replaced by relief, but a hundred other irritations soon began to crop up in his heart, not unlike the ground where a large tree has been uprooted: It remains bare for a period, but then fills up with weeds.

Amatevi come compagni di viaggio, con questo pensiero d'avere a lasciarvi, e con la speranza di ritrovarvi per sempre.

In the blink of an eye everything was upside down: gentlemen, bakers, customers, bread loaves, counter, benches, bins, cupboards, sacks, threshers, wheat bran, flour, dough." "What about the musketeers?" "They were busy guarding the Commissioner's house. You can't both sing in the choir and carry the cross.

Maledetto colui che contrista un spirito immortal!

Ma cos'è la storia senza la politica? Una guida che cammina, cammina, con nessuno dietro che impari la strada, e per conseguenza butta via i suoi passi; come la politica senza la storia è uno che cammina senza guida.

He who utters falsehoods to the [lawyer] is a fool who will tell the truth to the judge.

Come il fiore già rigoglioso sullo stelo cade insieme col fiorellino ancora in boccio, al passar della falce che pareggia tutte l'erbe del prato.

Come diceva spesso agli altri e a sé stessa, tutto il suo studio era di secondare i voleri del cielo; ma faceva spesso uno sbaglio grosso, ch'era di prender per cielo il suo cervello.