Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a magical country where you can explore the canals of Venice one day and the ancient streets of Rome the other.
The Bel Paese has inspired poets, writers and artists all throughout the centuries to create art about it. It’s no surprise that there is a huge plethora of amazing quotes about Italy out there.
I love inspiring travel quotes as it is, but when they’re about my beautiful country, I can’t help but love them even more. In this article I put together all the best Italian quotes I could find.
Whether you’re looking for Italian quotes for Instagram, or Italian sayings about life to inspire your next trip to Italy, I’m sure there’s something for you in this post!
I paired my favourite Italian quotes with some of my favourite photos of Italy, to get you in that extra little bit of wanderlust mood. So without further ado, let’s dive in and discover the most inspiring Italian quotes!
My favourite quotes about Italy
As a born and bred Italian, these are my personal favourite quotes about Italy. They’re the ones I believe truly represent the spirit of Italy, as well as how I often feel about my country.
1. “You may have the universe if I may have Italy.” – Giuseppe Verdi
2. “Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.” – Bertrand Russell
3. “Italy will never be a normal country. Because Italy is Italy. If we were a normal country, we wouldn’t have Rome. We wouldn’t have Florence. We wouldn’t have the marvel that is Venice.”– Matteo Renzi
Whatever your opinion of Renzi (an Italian politician), you can’t deny that this quote about Italy is beautiful. Personally I would add also Cinque Terre and Sardinia to the list, two wonders you won’t find anywhere else in the world!
4. “The name of Italy has magic in its very syllables.” – Mary Shelley
5. “The Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo.” – Mark Twain
6. “You know, people come to Italy for all sorts of reasons, but when they stay, it’s for the same two things.” “What?” “Love and gelato.”– Jenna Evans Welch
Despite living outside of Italy for the past ten years, those are the same two things that keep bringing me back too.
7. “Everything you see I owe to pasta.”– Sophia Loren
Need help planning your Italy trip? Check out my itineraries for 7 days in Italy and 14 days in Italy, or my Italy packing list!
Italian food sayings
If there’s one thing Italians want you to know, it’s how much we appreciate our food. I personally love trying new foods while travelling, but nothing will ever quite match a homemade pasta plate.
I couldn’t put together this article without including a section on all the best Italian quotes about food and eating in Italy.
8. “The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.”– George Miller
This is especially true if you’re visiting Italy in winter or skiing in the Alps. Winter food in Italy can get very heavy!
9. “As they say in Italy, Italians were eating with a knife and fork when the French were still eating each other. The Medici family had to bring their Tuscan cooks up there so they could make something edible.”– Mario Batali
10. “In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine.”– Robin Leach
11. “Italy will always have the best food.”– Diane von Furstenberg
12. “I spent a college semester in a small town in Italy – and that is where I truly tasted food for the first time.” – Alton Brown
13. “In Italy, food is an expression of love. It is how you show those around you that you care for them. Having a love for food means you also have a love for those you are preparing it for and for yourself.”– Joe Bastianich
14. “I think people in Italy live their lives better than we do. It’s an older country, and they’ve learned to celebrate dinner and lunch, whereas we sort of eat as quickly as we can to get through it.”– George Clooney
| READ MORE: DISCOVER THE ULTIMATE ITALY BUCKET LIST! |
Quotes on the Italian way of life
Until I started travelling more I didn’t quite appreciate just how different the lifestyle is in Italy compared to the rest of the world. We live life at a slower pace, taking time to appreciate the simple things.
Whether you’re getting ready for your next Italy trip or just want some tips on how to slow down, these Italian quotes are perfect for you.
15. “What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human, which other places, other countries, lost long ago.” – Erica Jong
16. “I love places that have an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life. I love the food. I love the people. I love the attitudes of Italians.”– Elton John
17. “In America, one must be something, but in Italy one can simply be.” – Pietros Maneos
18. “Italian culture is so deeply soaked in an appreciation of the good things in life.” – Mariska Hargitay
19. “Italy – I love the late-night culture, hanging around the square at midnight with everyone, catching up, and having a drink.” – Gemma Chan
I can confirm that this is how Italian youths (and older) spend most of their evenings, especially during summer in Italy. I used to (and still) do it in Sardinia, but it’s common of all small towns, for example also Cinque Terre.
20. “Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It’s alluring, but complicated. It’s the kind of place that can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred meters, or in the course of ten minutes. Italy is the only workshop in the world that can turn out both Botticellis and Berlusconis.” – Beppe Severgnini
21. “Italy is the last country where people savour the joy of living. It makes us believe it even when Italy herself has ceased to believe.” – Roger Peyrefitte
I love this quote because it’s a great reminder also for Italians. We often get caught up in the things that don’t work, and forget just how beautiful life in the Bel Paese is.
Italian short quotes to inspire you to travel to Italy
These quotes about Italy emphasise the beauty of my country and just how much one needs to see it in person to appreciate it.
If you’ve never been to Italy, these are the quotes that will inspire you to do so. If you have already travelled to Italy, they’re the ones that will make you smile at your laptop in fond memory.
22. “Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy.” – Fanny Burney
I didn’t realise how true this was until I visited the US and did a tour of “old and protected” national buildings, which turned out to be built in the 1960s. Buildings in Italy are OLD.
So old that countless people have walked through their doors and halls over the centuries, and that history is sitting there, waiting for you to reach it.
The photo in the quote below is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milano, my lovely hometown. If you’re wandering around Milan at night, it’s all lit up and even more magical.
23. “One of the great joys of traveling through Italy is discovering firsthand that it is, indeed, a dream destination.” – Debra Levinson
Whether you travel solo or travel with friends, discovering that the stories are true and a place truly is stunning is always a great pleasure.
24. “We are all pilgrims who seek Italy.”– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
25. “I find other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there.” – Frances Mayes
26. “Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life.” – Anna Akhmatova
27. “A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.” – Samuel Johnson
28. “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 marvelous than the land” – E. M. Forster
Another element most people forget about Italy is how stunning our nature is. The Italian Alps are some of the most beautiful mountains in the world, and are short drive away from the turquoise Mediterranean Sea.
29. “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.” – E. M. Forster
30. “A man has not fully lived until he experiences that gentle balmy clime of ancient empires, the land of lemon trees and the genius of Michelangelo.” – E.A. Bucchianeri
Italian quotes for Instagram
After many inspirational quotes about Italy, I wanted to include some short and funny Italian sayings, which will make for great Instagram captions.
Whether you pair them with the iconic Sassi of Matera, the unique historical sights of Sicily, or the crystal clear water of Sardinia, these Italian Instagram captions will make your photos stand out.
31. “Open my heart and you will see, Graved inside of it, “Italy”.” – Robert Browning
32. “For sure, in Italy, the sun always shines.” – Aleksandar Mitrovic
While not technically true, many parts of Italy are popular European winter sun destinations thanks to their mild weather all year round.
33. “I gasp for air if I don’t get to breathe Italian air once a year.” – Danny Meyer
34. “Here we are at last. The Italian proverb says “See Naples and die” but I say, see Naples and live; for there seems a great deal worth living for.” – Arthur John Strutt
Fun fact; the original saying “See Naples and die” is in German, by the famous poet Johan Wolfgang van Goethe.
35. “I was offered a free villa in Hollywood, but I said no thank you, I prefer to live in Italy.” – Ennio Morricone
36. “Everything in Italy that is particularly elegant and grand borders upon insanity and absurdity or at least is reminiscent of childhood.” – Alexander Herzen
Quotes about Rome, Italy
I’m originally from Milan, but I was lucky enough to live in Rome for a period of my life. The amount of history and art gathered in the Eternal City is countless even for Italian standards.
It doesn’t matter if you’re planning a weekend, deciding where to stay in Rome or just looking for amazing Roman viewpoints, these Rome quotes for Instagram and life are perfect for any occasion!
37. “Rome, the city of visible history.”– George Eliot
38. “Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.” – Giotto di Bondone
39. “Italy has changed. But Rome is Rome.” – Robert de Niro
40. “Methinks I will not die quite happy without having seen something of that Rome!” – Sir Walter Scott
41. “If we could be reborn wherever we chose, how crowded Rome would be, populated by souls who had spent their previous lives longing to inhabit a villa on the Janicum Hill.” – Francine Prose
42. “Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.” – Anatole Broyard
43. “For someone who has never seen Rome, it is hard to believe how beautiful life can be.” – Unknown
I couldn’t agree more with this Italian quote. Walking the streets of Rome, admiring the ancient Roman ruins and tasting the fine local food, is an experience I believe should feature on everyone’s travel bucket list.
44. “Rome is not like any other city. It’s a majestic museum, a living room to tiptoe through.” – Alberto Sordi
45. “All roads lead to Rome.” – Alain de Lille
46. “If I’m in Rome for only 48 hours, I would consider it a sin against God to not eat cacio e pepe, the most uniquely Roman of pastas, in some crummy little joint where Romans eat. I’d much rather do that than go to the Vatican. That’s Rome to me.” – Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain is also the author of many of my favourite travel quotes, as well as some incredible travel TV shows.
47. “Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.” – G K Chesterton
Venice quotes
I’ve been to Venice multiple times, and I never get bored of it. Even if you only have one day in Venice, it will be enough to make you fall in love.
Go for a gondola ride on the canals, explore Piazza San Marco, sigh at the history of the Ponte dei Sospiri and much more. It’s no surprise that there are tons of quotes about this unique city.
48. “Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go”. – Truman Capote
49. “This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.”– Thomas Mann
50. “Venice is eternity itself.” – Joseph Brodsky
51. “Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.” – Frida Giannini
52. “Venice, it’s temples and palaces did seem like fabrics of enchantment piled to heaven.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
53. “It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the feeling of a city like Venice, where everything is just beautiful color and gorgeous buildings that are so peaceful. You can roam around and get lost in the labyrinth.” – Nanette Lepore
54. “If I could live in one city and do every single thing I do there, I would choose Venice. You can’t turn your head without seeing something amazing.” – Nile Rodgers
55. “Venice is the perfect place for a phase of art to die. No other city on earth embraces entropy quite like this magical floating mall.” – Jerry Saltz
Tuscany quotes
From the bustling streets of Florence to the small countryside villages, Tuscany is a stunning region in Italy. Tuscany is the cradle of the Italian renaissance, so it’s only natural that it keeps inspiring artists to this day.
Whether your Tuscany itinerary included a visit to the Leaning Tower of Pisa or to the hot waters of the Terme di Saturnia, you will likely recognise the unique Tuscan experience in these quotes.
56. “Everything about Florence seems to be coloured with a mild violet, like diluted wine.” – Henry James
57. “Through these old streets I wander dreamily; Around me Florence sweeps her busy tide of life.” – William Leighton
58. “My idea of heaven still is to drive the gravel farm roads of Umbria and Tuscany, very pleasantly lost.” – Frances Mayes
This Italian quote is from “Under the Tuscan Sun”, one of my favourite travel movies!
59. “I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen, twenty-year-olds gliding past on Vespas with crinkly, long, hair, and I thought I was on the set of a movie. I couldn’t believe that this was going on and I hadn’t known about it before. I was flabbergasted.” – Walter Kirn
60. “One of my ambitions is to move to Tuscany. I like the idea of getting a vineyard. I love being under the sun and being casual and comfortable. That’s my idea of heaven.” – Paolo Nutini
61. “Tuscany is so full of history and beauty – you meet wonders of art and architecture on almost every corner. But I love the region’s homier aspects: the special sweetness of the tomatoes, the soft mozzarella, the heady scents of basil and garlic everywhere.” – Trudie Styler
62. “The very beginning of European aesthetics started from Florence. Everything here was beauty, money, and creativity, the power of the good money.” – Alessandro Michele
Final thoughts on the best Italian quotes about life
There you have it, the ultimate compilation of Italian quotes! Do you have a favourite quote about visiting Italy that isn’t listed here? Let me know in the comments below!
These are all my personal favourite quotes about Italy, but I’d love to hear which one your favourite is!
I’m Italian and grew up in Milan, and I believe these quotes truly represent my country, and the allure it presents to travellers.
Magical places like Lake Como and Trentino attract poets, writers and huge tourist crowds, and it’s easy to see why.
Whether you were searching for Italian Instagram captions or for an inspiring Italian quote for your personal dairy, I hope you have found here what you were looking for.
Once you’ve had your fill of Italian quotes, make sure to check out these hiking quotes, these inspiring adventure quotes and my favourite quotes about the beach!
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