Oriana Fallaci Quotes

Powerful Oriana Fallaci for Daily Growth

About Oriana Fallaci

Oriana Fallaci (born Oracle Nerina Fallacci on June 29, 1929 – September 15, 2006) was an Italian journalist and author, recognized as one of the most influential female journalists in modern history. Known for her provocative interviewing style, uncompromising commitment to truth, and fearless stance against political oppression, Fallaci left an indelible mark on journalism with her insightful reporting and powerful written works. Born in Florence, Italy, she was the daughter of a Jewish father and Catholic mother during the rise of fascism. This tumultuous time would later influence her perspective on politics and power, shaping her desire to expose injustice through investigative journalism. In 1949, Fallaci moved to London to study law at the University of London, where she became interested in journalism instead. Her journalistic career began in earnest when she joined the Italian news agency ANSA in Rome. However, her groundbreaking work started with Time Magazine, where she was one of the first Western reporters to go to Vietnam during the war and to interview the Ayatollah Khomeini before his rise to power in Iran. Her most renowned works include "Interview with History" (1976), an insightful conversation with President Richard Nixon after Watergate, "A Man" (1978), a powerful account of her relationship with her lover, Egyptian diplomat Mohammed Heikal, and "The Rage and the Pride" (2001), a compelling investigation into Islam and the Arab world. Fallaci's unapologetic approach to journalism, combined with her ability to ask challenging questions, earned her both praise and criticism. Despite threats and death threats, she never wavered from her pursuit of truth. Fallaci passed away in 2006 but left behind a legacy that continues to inspire journalists around the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are more afraid of change than of death."

This quote by Oriana Fallaci underscores a fundamental human fear and resistance to change. It suggests that many people find the uncertainty and discomfort associated with change more daunting than the certainty and finality of death. This fear stems from the need for familiarity, routine, and predictability in our lives, which change disrupts. However, embracing change can lead to growth, learning, and progress, making it an essential part of personal and societal evolution.

"Words are like a sword; you have to choose them carefully and know where to strike."

This quote underscores the importance of choosing words wisely, as they can be as powerful as a sword. It implies that words should be used thoughtfully, considering their impact and context, much like deciding where and how to use a sword in battle. In essence, Fallaci is reminding us that our words hold significant power - they can wound or heal, inspire or discourage, and shape perceptions and actions.

"Truth has no special interest in being loved or being soft."

This quote emphasizes that truth, as an absolute concept, does not seek approval or adulation; its essence lies in its accuracy, not its appeal. It suggests that the pursuit of truth may sometimes be uncomfortable, unpopular, or harsh, but it is crucial to uphold it, regardless of public opinion or personal preference.

"Asking a powerful man to act is as rational as asking a tiger not to be a tiger."

This quote by Oriana Fallacci suggests that it's unreasonable to expect a powerful person, much like a tiger in its natural state, to act differently than their inherent nature or position of power allows. In other words, those with significant influence will likely continue to exert their power as they see fit, regardless of any requests or expectations from others. It underscores the idea that understanding and navigating the behaviors of the powerful requires acknowledgement of their inherent characteristics and position.

"The enemy is never a monster, but the ideas he represents are."

This quote suggests that it's essential not to demonize or dehumanize one's enemies, as they are still individuals with complexities, emotions, and humanity. Instead, it encourages focusing on the harmful ideologies or beliefs that they stand for. By doing so, we can confront and challenge these ideas without reinforcing negative stereotypes or perpetuating hatred towards specific groups of people. Ultimately, this perspective promotes empathy, understanding, and constructive dialogue in resolving conflicts.

The Muslims refuse our culture and try to impose their culture on us. I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture-it is toward my values, my principles, my civilization.

- Oriana Fallaci

Values, Civilization, Them, Impose

Europe is no longer Europe, it is Eurabia, a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense.

- Oriana Fallaci

Sense, Proceed, Colony, Islamic

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon.

- Oriana Fallaci

Leader, I See, Phenomenon, Inhuman

The increased presence of Muslims in Italy and in Europe is directly proportional to our loss of freedom.

- Oriana Fallaci

Freedom, Loss, Increased, Proportional

Is it right to shoot the poor prostitute or a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, or a man who loves another man?

- Oriana Fallaci

Woman, Loves, Another Man, Unfaithful

What are the symbols of American strength, wealth, power and modernity? Certainly not jazz and rock and roll, not chewing-gum or hamburgers, Broadway or Hollywood. It's their skyscrapers. Their Pentagon. Their science. Their technology.

- Oriana Fallaci

Wealth, Hollywood, Certainly, Skyscrapers

I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe, Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism.

- Oriana Fallaci

Find, Sponsor, Universities, Nurture

I've always disliked kamikazes, that is, people who commit suicide in order to kill others. Starting with the Japanese ones from World War II. I never considered them Pietro Miccas who torch the powder and go up with the citadel in order to block the arrival of the enemy troops at Torino. I never considered them soldiers.

- Oriana Fallaci

Arrival, Considered, Commit, Block

I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.

- Oriana Fallaci

Always, Been, Oppressive, Disobedience

Laura Bush has the face of my mother when my mother was young. The face, the body, the voice. The first time I saw on TV Laura Bush, I got frozen because it was as if my mother was not dead. 'Oh, Mama,' I said, 'Mama.'

- Oriana Fallaci

Voice, Young, TV, Laura

War is something Arafat sends others to do for him. That is, the poor souls who believe in him. This pompous incompetent caused the failure of the Camp David negotiations, Clinton's mediation.

- Oriana Fallaci

Incompetent, Souls, Caused, Arafat

Khomeini was not a puppet like Arafat or Qaddafi or the many other dictators I met in the Islamic world. He was a sort of Pope, a sort of king - a real leader.

- Oriana Fallaci

Leader, Pope, Qaddafi, Arafat

Arafat contradicts himself every five minutes. He always plays the double-cross, lies even if you ask him what time it is.

- Oriana Fallaci

Always, Minutes, Plays, Arafat

I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.

- Oriana Fallaci

Great, Test, Also, Physical Courage

I am disgusted by the anti-Semitism of many Italians, of many Europeans.

- Oriana Fallaci

I Am, Italians, Disgusted

The most humiliating thing a woman can be is a coquette.

- Oriana Fallaci

Woman, Most, Thing, Humiliating

I am known for a life spent in the struggle for freedom, and freedom includes the freedom of religion.

- Oriana Fallaci

I Am, Freedom Of Religion, Struggle

The larger truth, the universal truth that you can give in a novel, is far greater than what you can give through journalism.

- Oriana Fallaci

Give, Through, Larger, Journalism

When you have been born in a war like me, living in a war as a child, when you have been in wars as a war correspondent all your life - trust me! You develop a form of fatalism; you are always ready to die.

- Oriana Fallaci

Trust, Die, Been, War Correspondent

We must take positions. Our weakness in the West is born of the fact of so-called 'objectivity.' Objectivity does not exist - it cannot exist!... The word is a hypocrisy which is sustained by the lie that the truth stays in the middle. No, sir: Sometimes truth stays on one side only.

- Oriana Fallaci

Lie, Fact, Sometimes, So-Called

The more democratic and open a society is, the more it's exposed to terrorism. The more a country is free, not governed by a police regime, the more it risks hijackings or massacres like the ones that took place for many years in Italy and Germany and other parts of Europe.

- Oriana Fallaci

Country, Other, Germany, Exposed

We are an age without leaders. We stopped having leaders at the end of the 20th century.

- Oriana Fallaci

Stopped, Century, Having, 20th Century

I have expressed my opinion through the written word through my books, that is all.

- Oriana Fallaci

Through, Books, Written Word, Expressed

I have never met a man more shy than Clark Gable. He was so shy, you couldn't make him talk.

- Oriana Fallaci

Shy, More, Clark Gable, Clark

Why do the people humiliate themselves by voting? I didn't vote because I have dignity. If I had closed my nose and voted for one of them, I would spit on my own face.

- Oriana Fallaci

Nose, My Own, Humiliate, Vote

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It's that simple!

- Oriana Fallaci

Simple, Think, Pope, Same Things

This Islam business kidnapped me.

- Oriana Fallaci

Business, Me, Islam, Kidnapped

It is the mainspring of life, courage. And courage has many faces.

- Oriana Fallaci

Life, Courage, Many, Faces

Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.

- Oriana Fallaci

Abortion, Pity, Khomeini, Pregnant

To speak of oneself means to lay bare one's own soul, expose it like a body to the sun. To lay bare one's own soul is not at all like taking off one's brassiere on a crowded beach!

- Oriana Fallaci

Like, Means, Lay, Taking

How do you dare to ask me for a solution? It's like asking Seneca for a solution. You remember what he did? He committed suicide!

- Oriana Fallaci

Asking, Like, Committed, Dare

I cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics.

- Oriana Fallaci

Politics, Sometimes, Younger, Enter

Alas, nothing reveals man the way war does. Nothing so accentuates in him the beauty and ugliness, the intelligence and foolishness, the brutishness and humanity, the courage and cowardice, the enigma.

- Oriana Fallaci

Beauty, Nothing, Enigma, Alas

I was a little girl fighting as a partisan against Nazi-Fascism.

- Oriana Fallaci

Girl, Fighting, Against, Partisan

Glory is a heavy burden, a murdering poison, and to bear it is an art. And to have that art is rare.

- Oriana Fallaci

Art, Poison, Heavy Burden, Bear

When my father was arrested, we didn't know where they had him. My mother found him at the house of torture. It was called Villa Triste.

- Oriana Fallaci

Father, Had, Arrested, Torture

I must admit that I am not generous with weak people. It's not in my nature or in my personality. My parents were not generous with weak people, see?

- Oriana Fallaci

Nature, People, Am, Generous

America's vulnerability comes precisely from its strength, its wealth, its power and its modernity. It's the usual story of the dog chasing its own tail.

- Oriana Fallaci

Strength, Wealth, Usual, Chasing

I love soldiers. They are my kids, they are my children.

- Oriana Fallaci

Love, Children, I Love, Kids

It must be terribly lonely to be a king instead of a man.

- Oriana Fallaci

King, Must, Terribly, Instead

The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period.

- Oriana Fallaci

Civilization, Give, Period, Principles

I don't hide. I never have. I stay at home because I like to stay at home, and at home I work.

- Oriana Fallaci

Never, Hide, Like, Stay

I didn't want to kill a man. I'm not capable of killing a man. I wanted to kill a tyrant.

- Oriana Fallaci

Want, Capable, Wanted, Tyrant

Wojtyla was a warrior, who did more to end the Soviet Union than even America.

- Oriana Fallaci

Warrior, Soviet Union, Even, Union

You cannot work and be at home with your child. But you want both.

- Oriana Fallaci

Work, Want, Cannot, Your Child

My soldier weapon is the weapon of truth.

- Oriana Fallaci

Truth, Weapon, Soldier

I defend Israel's right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time.

- Oriana Fallaci

Themselves, Exist, Defend, Israel

Have you ever thought that war is a madhouse and that everyone in the war is a patient?

- Oriana Fallaci

Thought, Everyone, Ever, Patient

A civilization, a culture, cannot survive without passion, cannot be saved without passion.

- Oriana Fallaci

Civilization, Survive, Saved

Heroes can be sweet.

- Oriana Fallaci

Sweet, Heroes

You cannot govern, you cannot administrate, with an ignoramus.

- Oriana Fallaci

You, Cannot, Govern

I am a danger to myself if I get angry.

- Oriana Fallaci

Myself, Anger, I Am, Angry

I no longer have the energy to get really angry, like I used to.

- Oriana Fallaci

Like, Get, Longer, Angry

You cannot survive if you do not know the past.

- Oriana Fallaci

Past, Know, Cannot, Survive

I know I am a writer; it is the only thing I am sure of.

- Oriana Fallaci

I Am, Only, Sure, The Only Thing

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