Italian proverbs

• "Chi dice Siena, dice Palio."
  • Translation: "He who mentions , mentions the Palio" (that city's famous horse-race).
  • Notes: said of something that one cannot mention without calling some other thing to mind.

• "Chi va piano, va sano; chi va sano, va lontano."
  • Translation: "He who goes softly, goes safely; he who goes safely, goes far."

• "Commediante! Tragediante!"
  • Transliteration: "Comedian! Tragedian!"
  • Notes: exclaimed by Pope Pius VII during a violent scene that Napoleon made before him.

• "Eppur, si muove!"
  • Translation: "But it does move!"
  • Notes: Galileo is supposed to have said this after being forced by the Church to abjure the .

• "Fatti maschi, parole femmine."
  • Translation: "Thoughts are male, words are female."
  • Alternative: "Manly deeds, womanly words."
  • Notes: Motto of the state of

• "In bocca al lupo."
  • Translation: "Into the wolf's mouth."
  • Notes: used by students to wish each other good luck before exams. The response is "Crepi!" ("May it die!")

• "L'Italia farà da sè."
  • Translation: "Italy will take care of itself."
  • Notes: a common expression when was in the process of reunification.

• "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate."
  • Translation" "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
  • Notes: inscribed above the gates of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (III, 9)   Also commonly written above the entrance to examination halls in Universities.

• "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita. / Mi retrovai per una selva oscura. / Ché la diritta via era smarrita..."
  • Translation: "In the middle of the road of our life / I found myself in a dark forest / As the straight path had been lost."
  • Notes: opening lines of Dante Alighieri's Inferno.

• "Se non è vero, è ben trovato."
  • Translation: "If it's not true, it's a good story."

• "Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare la donna mia..."
  • Translation: "I see my lady, so gentle and so honest..."
  • Notes: famous opening lines of Dante Alighieri's Sonnet 26 from La Vita Nuova

• "Traduttore, traditore."
  • Translation: "Translator, traitor."

• "Tu duca, tu signore e tu maestro."
  • Translation: "You are my guide, my lord, and my master."
  • Notes: said by Dante Alighieri to Virgil before entering Hell (Inferno, II, 140).

• "Vedi Napoli, e poi muori!"
  • Translation: "See , and then die!"
  • Notes: used to express admiration for Naples.

• "L'abito non fa il monaco."
  • Transliteration: "The habit does not make the monk."
  • Translation: "Clothes do not make the man."

See also List of proverbs.