Dario Fo

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

“My theater has always been a political battle on the stage.”

“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.”

“Comedy makes the subversion of the existing state of affairs possible.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Although, this is often used with negative connotations, I see ideology as an inherent part of culture.”

“For some time it's been my habit to use images when preparing a speech: rather than write it down, I illustrate it.”

“Nevertheless, the mode, the justification, and all the games involved in this war were dishonest.”

“When I was a boy, unconsciously, spontaneously I learned the art of telling ironic stories.”

“All forms of power - even based on the consensus of the democratic system - react when they are being attacked, or when those who exercise power become a target.”

“We thought the church had withdrawn from interfering in Italian politics...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.”