16 Quotes & Sayings By Donna Leon

Donna Leon was born in Torino, Italy, and lives in Florence with her husband. She is a journalist and a short story writer. Her first novel, Death at La Fenice, which was adapted into an Italian film under the same title, was published in 1987. Since then she has written six further novels set in the same milieu as her debut work Read more

In 1990 her crime series featuring Commissaire Guido Brunetti received international acclaim and established her as one of Italy's leading crime writers. She has been nominated for many literary awards, including the Campiello prize.

1
.if you put people on a diet, they start thinking about food. Or if you make someone stop smoking, all they think about is cigarettes. It seems logical enough to me that if you tell a person he can't have sex, he's going to be obsessive about the subject. Then to give him the power to tell other people how to run their sex lives, well, that's just asking for trouble. In a way, it's like having a blind person teach Art History, isn't it? . Donna Leon
2
I raised my hand and asked if God was a spirit. And he said yes, He was. So I asked if it was right that a spirit was different from a person because it didn't have a body, wasn't material. And when he agreed, I asked how, if God was a spirit, He could be a man, if He didn't have a body or anything. Donna Leon
3
Guilo, although a lawyer, never lied; at least not to his friends. Donna Leon
4
Though everyone in the bar knew who he was, no one asked him about the death, though one old man did rustle his newspaper suggestively. Donna Leon
5
Perception of personal danger very often set people on the path of virtue. Donna Leon
6
Her mask gave no sign of how this affected her. Donna Leon
7
Most people – however much they might deny it – had an idea of what they were getting into when they got into it. Donna Leon
8
And off in the far distance, the gold on the wings of the angel atop the bell tower of San Marco flashed in the sun, bathing the entire city in its glistening benediction. Donna Leon
9
Oh, so seldom does fate cast our enemy into our hands, to do with as we will Donna Leon
10
We buy things. We wear them or put them on our walls, or sit on them, but anyone who wants to can take them away from us. Or break them.. Long after he's dead, someone else will own those stupid little boxes, and then someone after him, just as someone owned them before he did. But no one ever thinks of that: objects survive us and go on living. It's stupid to believe we own them. And it's sinful for them to be so important. . Donna Leon
11
She became his Ariadne, leading him through the labyrinth of books, stopping now and then to pass another one to him. Donna Leon
12
You really love to gossip, don't you?” he asked, wishing she had brought him a glass of wine.“ Yes, I suppose I do, ” she answered, sounding surprised at the realization. “You think that's why I love reading novels so much? Donna Leon
13
And I don't want to live anywhere where I am famous. It makes me very, very uncomfortable, because it conveys an advantage over people, and I don't like that. Donna Leon
14
I never wanted to be rich or successful or famous. I just wanted to be happy and have fun. Donna Leon
15
I came to Venice for the first time in 1968 and was lucky enough to make the acquaintanceship, and then the friendship, of two Venetians, Roberta and Franco, who remain my best friends here after almost 50 years. Donna Leon