Famous Italian Sayings, Phrases, and Quotes
Are you looking for a quote, phrase, or saying in Italian? We’ve compiled a list of many famous ones from poets, proverbs, actors, and even those used by Italians and Italian-Americans in every day speech. And we’ve included both the Italian and English versions for you as well. Feel free to use them on a t-shirt or face mask design!
Italian Phrases & Sayings and Their English Translations
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A caval donato non si guarda in bocca. – Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
A chi fa male, mai mancano scuse. – He who does evil, is never short of an excuse.
Aiutati che Dio t’aiuta. – Help yourself and God will help you.
Belle parole non pascon i gatti. – Fine words don’t feed cats.
Chi dorme non piglia pesci – Those who sleep don’t catch any fish.
Cuando l’amico chiede, non v’è domani. – When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow.
Il dolce far niente. – It is sweet doing nothing.
L’amore è cieco – Love is blind.
L’amore vince sempre – Love conquers all.
La vita è un sogno – Life is a dream.
La semplicità è l’ultima sofisticazione – Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto. – Eat well, laugh often, love much.
Noi non potemo avere perfetta vita senza amici – We cannot have a perfect life without friends.
-Dante
Non puoi insegnare niente a un uomo. Puoi solo aiutarlo a scoprire ciò che ha dentro di sé – You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help find it within himself.
-Galileo Galilei
Nulla nuova, buona nuova. – No news is good news.
Quando finisce la partita il re ed il pedone finiscono nella stessa scatola. -When you finish the game, the king and pawn end up in the same box.
Se non hai mai pianto, i tuoi occhi non possono essere belli. – If you haven’t cried, your eyes can’t be beautiful.
-Sophia Loren
Una cena senza vino e come un giorno senza sole – A meal without wine is a day without sunshine.
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Newer Comments »Hello.
I hope you can help me with this quote
” Uni uno va al Molino con suo sacco ”
What does it mean and how would it be translated in English.
Many thanks, awaiting reply with great anticipation Lorena.
Lorena it means literally, “each one goes to the mill with his sack.”
how do you say “we all love you” in Italian
I fogli bruciano ma lettere volano
According to my Italian to English translator this means “Burning leaves but flying letters.” Huh? What does that mean?
This saying is on the street in a box at Campo D’Fiori. I bought a leather bracelet with this on it.
Thanks
I fogli bruciano ma lettere volano
The leaves burn but the letters fly.
Dates back to Romans burning the second Jewish Temple where the scrolls of law were kept.
In short they can burn the temple but the words still live on (fly).
Each one goes to the mill with his sack—– when someone exerts himself he expects a benefit. You wouldn’t go to the mill, a very labor intensive activity of grinding your corn for polenta, unless you were going to carry the product home with you to feed your family.
I’m now 80 years old but in my younger years I remember an Italian phrase that said that the translator was a traitor, or something like that. Is there any statement like that?
Hey Bob—It looks like you’re right! The Italian phrase is “traduttore tradittore”, which roughly translated means, “translator is a traitor”.
Un bel Gioco dura poco
A good joke is short
SPQR
Senatus Populus Que Romanus (Latino)
The Senate and the People of Rome
SPQR
Sono porci questi Romani (Italiano)
They are pigs these Romans
Italian culture and people. Of foreigners who I have met, Italians were among the most generous. I had good times with them.
Here is one my Neopolitan grandfather used to use;
A vechaia na caronia jevendusa…
I think it means Old people are like a dead dog youth is wasted..
How do you say “thickheaded” or “stubborn” in Italian? Thanks.
Hey Richard! It looks like thickheaded in Italian is ”
ottuso” where as stubborn is “testardo”. I hope that helps!
My father and I used to say “qui se cheese” pronounced key see cheese. He said it was a phrase for anything…does it have a meaning? Is it a real pharse?
Testardo, testa dura, o ostinato.
In Calabrese they say “capo tosto”, but it is pronounced “cabodost”.
If you’re saying this to one person, “Tutti noi ti vogliamo bene.” Or “ti vogliamo bene tutti noi”.
If you’re saying this to a group of people – vi vogliamo bene.
I don’t remember the phrases in Italian, but my mom would say, “All the help you need is at the end of your arms”, and, when we thought we were special in some way, she would say, “What are you? Born of the rooster?”
The saying was loosely translated:
Old age is a bit-h!
But those who don’t reach it are in worse shape!
I wish I could remember the second line more clearly!
It’s like saying. “What’s up” or “what’s going on”
Hello ! How to say this phrase in italian “Good from far but far from good”.
Thankyou !
I am working hard to learn italian language.I really love it !!! It’s my childhood aspiration to speak real good italian.
That’s me in the middle of that picture of the 3 guys with the yellow T shirts on from 2006 in Orvieto Italy. Amazing.
THE Bob?! How awesome! We’re so glad you let Custom Ink be a part of such a big deal trip!
I work with an older Italian gentleman. He always uses a saying that goes something like ” God willing and if the donkey walks”. I wanted to customize a Christmas gift with this saying but, first, wanted to make sure that that is the correct way of saying it and second, I was wondering if you could tell me how it is said in Italian
Hi Jodi! What an awesome idea for a Christmas gift; I’m sure he’ll love it! I couldn’t find any exact quotes, but I did find a lot of biblical passages from a quick Google search, so perhaps it’s adapted from there. Thanks to Google Translate, I found, “A Dio piacendo e se l’asino cammina,” but before printing it on anything, we could run it by someone who does speak Italian. Would you like me to get a rep from our Sales team in touch by the email you provided?
Hi There, I love the saying on your site ” Belle parole non pascon i gatti” and would like to have it as a tattoo but when I checked it with a few translator tools they dont recognise “pascon”. Could you tell me how it translates as “feed”. I just want to make sure I get it right!
Many thanks
Sharon
Hey Sharon! It’s always best to check with a language expert to be 100% sure, but when we compile our lists we are as thorough as possible! This saying roughly translates to, “all those words won’t feed the cat.” We hope that helps!
Il tempo si buffera stuck in my mind,but come vola il tempo is listed.
Please comment.
Ciao
What does it mean when someone says “sono al verde”?
Irene
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