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I was born near the Po and it is the only respectable river in all Italy. To be respectable, a river must flow through a plain because water was created to stay horizontal and only when it is perfectly horizontal does it preserve its natural dignity. Niagara falls is an embarrassing phenomenon, like a man who walks on his hands.

— Giovannino Guareschi Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

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More quotes by Giovannino Guareschi

Minutes and seconds are strictly city preoccupations. In the city people hurry, hurry so as not to waste a single minute, and fail to realize that they are throwing a lifetime away.

Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

But the young people of today are benighted creatures born with telephone numbers imprinted on their brains, and where passion is concerned they have about as much grace as a pig in a cornfield.

Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

The party delegate was one of those gloomy, tight-lipped persons who seem to have been made for wearing a red scarf round the neck and a tommy-gun slung from one shoulder.

Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

In the valley a bicycle is just as necessary as a pair of shoes, in fact more so. Because even if a man hasn’t any shoes he can still ride a bicycle, whereas if he hasn’t a bicycle he must surely travel on foot.

Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

‘Don Camillo, the system of teaching Christian charity by knocking people over the head is one that doesn’t appeal to me,’ the Lord answered severely.

Don Camillo and the Prodigal Sun (1952)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Giovannino Guareschi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.