Dario Fo Quotes & Sayings

“Know how to live the time that is given you.”

“Our homeland is the whole world. Our law is liberty. We have but one thought, revolution in our hearts.”

“A theatre, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.”

“I am the jongleur. I leap and pirouette, and make you laugh. I make fun of those in power, and I show you how puffed up and conceited are the big shots who go around making wars in which we are the ones who get slaughtered. I reveal them for what they are. I pull out the plug, and... pssss... they deflate.”

“It is hard for power to enjoy or incorporate humour and satire in its system of control.”

“Culturally, I have always been part of the proletariat. I lived side by side with the sons of glassblowers, fishermen and smugglers. The stories they told were shaper satires about the hypocrisy of authority and the middle classes, the two-facedness of teachers and lawyers and politicians. I was born politicized.”

“It is extremely dangerous to talk about limits or borders. It is vital, instead, that we remain completely open, that we are always involved, and that we aim to contribute personally in social events.”

“Every artistic expression is either influenced by or adds something to politics.”

“We thought the church had withdrawn from interfering in Italian politics... but instead there is a terrible resurgence. These are ugly signs for freedom of expression.”

“We had extremely democratic town councils in medieval Italy which knew the value of working together, and every now and then, down the centuries, this spirit returns.”