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Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land.

Whether by theft or by artistry or by conquest, when it comes to time, Venetians are the world's greatest experts. They bested time like no one else.

I came to Venice for the first time in 1968 and was lucky enough to make the acquaintanceship, and then the friendship, of two Venetians, Roberta and Franco, who remain my best friends here after almost 50 years.

I like the world, but I feel very, very Italian. I love the small parts of my country: Tuscany, Capri in the winter. I don't like big towns.

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.

Italian men do appreciate beautiful women. They're not afraid of the beauty, which is nice.

Most Italians who came to this country are very patriotic. There was this exciting possibility that if you worked real hard, and you loved something, you could become successful.

I am certain that most Germans have instinctive liking for Italy, just as Italians admire Germans for their many qualities.

If the Italian is the most passionate lover in the world, it may be because he is the most restrained. Rigid convention denies him all contact with the lovelier girls, who never are free from chaperons.

Venice is a place that is high on reinvention. The kind of place that you can go and be whoever it is you want to be and do whatever it is you want to do, and nobody's really going to ask you a lot of questions about it.