“I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I sacrifice myself for everyone.”
At the launch of his 2006 campaign, as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm, and "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
“Churchill liberated us from the Nazis, Silvio Berlusconi is liberating us from communists.”
Speech in Ancona (11 February 2006), as quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2006
On Hosni Mubarak, in the relation to the 2011 Egyptian protests, as quoted in Berlusconi: Hosni Mubarak Is 'The Wisest Of Men http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/silvio-berlusconi-hosni-m_n_818651.html, in The Huffington Post (4 February 2011), and Berlusconi: Mubarak is a wise man at al Jazeera (February 2011) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201124194950335734.html <br class="br">2011
Statement to German MEP Martin Schulz, European Parliament (2 July 2003), as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm, "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy, and in Italian at "Silvio Berlusconi vs MEP Martin Schulz; relive the moment" at YouTube (16 April 2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bPqaqGJ5Js <br class="br">2003
As quoted in as quoted in "Silvio Berlusconi criticised for 'pretty girl' rape comment" in The Telegraph (26 January 2009) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/4339817/Silvio-Berlusconi-criticised-for-pretty-girl-rape-comment.html <br class="br">2009
“I wish luck to you and your nation that loves you as the election results we can see testify.”
On Alexander Lukashenko, as quoted in Results of the official visit of Silvio Berlusconi to Belarus at belarus.by (1 December 2009) the official website of the Republic of Belarus http://www.belarus.by/en/press-center/news/results-of-the-official-visit-of-silvio-berlusconi-to-belarus_i_0000000549.html <br class="br">2009
“People will vote for Daniela Santanchè because she is a beautiful babe.”
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
In a speech in Milan, while heading a coallition which includes parties with fascist roots, as quoted in "Berlusconi praises Mussolini on Holocaust Memorial Day" at BBC News (27 January 2013) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21222341 <br class="br">2013
“I used all my playboy skills and courted the Finnish President.”
At the opening of the European Food Authority in Parma (21 June 2005), when asked to explain how Italy managed to get the support of its biggest competitor over the EU Food Authority dispute), as reported in "Foreign Ministry summons Italian Ambassador over Berlusconi comments" in Helsingin Sanomat (22 June 2005) http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1101980006828 <br class="br">2005
“They keep calling me a dwarf, but I'm taller than Sarkozy and Putin.”
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
“Mussolini never killed anyone, he just sent dissenters abroad for vacation.”
As quoted in La voce di Rimini (11 September 2003) <br class="br">Variant translation: He never killed anyone, he sent people on holiday to confine them. <br class="br"> "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/20/italy <br class="br">2003
On public school, in Adoptions, gay couples and public school in la Repubblica (1 March 2011) http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2011/02/26/news/berlusconi_rafforza-12922793/index.html <br class="br">2011
“Foreign press is usually leftist and describes us differently from what we really are.”
Speech to the association Azzurri nel mondo, Lugano (24 October 2004)
2004
Addressing the commander of the special italian police corp, Guardia di Finanza, whose job is to fight financial fraud and tax evasion in November of 2003, quoted in la Repubblica (17 febbraio 2004) http://www.repubblica.it/2004/b/sezioni/politica/cdlverifica2/candida/candida.html <br class="br">2003
At a rally in Naples (28 March 2006) as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2006
“By definition, as a Prime Minister I cannot be a liar.”
Italian Radio National Broadcast (18 January 2006)
2006
“Let's talk about football and women. … Gerhard, why don't you start?”
At the Brussels summit, turning to the four-times-married German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, at the end of Italy's EU presidency, in December 2003, as quoted in "In quotes: Berlusconi in his own words" at BBC News (2 May 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3041288.stm <br class="br">2003
“Barack Obama being young, handsome and sun-tanned is going to get along with you swimmingly.”
On the US president-elect to Dmitry Medvedev, as quoted in 'Italy's Berlusconi hails "suntanned" Obama' in Reuters (6 November 2008) http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4A562120081106, "Berlusconi faces race row as he calls America's first black president 'suntanned'" in Mail on Sunday (6 November 2008) http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1083664/Berlusconi-faces-race-row-calls-Americas-black-president-suntanned.html <br class="br">2008
As quoted in "Did I say This? in The Observer (20 April 2008)
2008
Denying the heaviness of the Italian crisis, during the news conference after the end of the G20 summit held in Cannes (3-4 November 2011), as reported in "Napolitano ammonisce: attuare impegni. Premier: la crisi non c'è, ristoranti pieni" in Il Messaggero (4 November 2011) http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=168779&sez=HOME_INITALIA&ssez=POLITICA, and "Silvio Berlusconi shrugs off IMF's financial checks on Italy. Prime minister insists Italy is in good health, with debts under control, and points to full restaurants as proof of strength" in The Guardian (4 November 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/silvio-berlusconi-imf-italy <br class="br">2011