It's been said that...

"You can't change the people around you. But you can change the people around you."

“Vali cchiù un tistimonìu di visu, chi centu d’oricchia." ~ (The testimony of one eyewitness is worth more than the hearsay of a hundred) ~ Ancient Sicilian proverb

Always worth a repeat for those people in the back or across the pond.....

"Time is free...yet priceless. You'll never own it, but you spend it...you can't keep it, but you use it...and once its lost, you will never get it back." ~ Buddha

“Take mafia out of the trial and there’s no case here. Put aside any preconceptions or prejudices you might have about the Mafia. Membership alone is not enough to be a crime.” ~ Closing argument of Carmine Persico, who represented himself during the infamous Mafia Commission trial in 1986.

This well-worn classic Italian phrase, I think, sums up the base mentality of the Italian people quite well...

"Fare una bella figura" --- which, when translated into English means --- "To make a beautiful impression"

In their unique dialect, the Sicilian people refer to a little boy, up to approximately the age of 10 or 11, as a picciriddu (the latter R is silent.)

Thereafter, he is called a picciteddu.

"Give without remembering. Receive without forgetting.”

Don Calogero advises…

“Refrain from telling your friends everything…and your enemies won’t know so much about you.”

Like a good neighbor... stay over there! lol

Plato once commented that…

“Wise men speak because they have something to say…fools, because they have to say something.”

“All men have eyes, Machiavelli says, but few have the gift of penetration.” ~ Joe Bonanno, A Man of Honor

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." ~ Chaucer (circa 1374)

Similar to the late 14th century French proverb...

"Qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'acheva."......."He who never undertook anything, never achieved anything."

"The more I see of people, the more I like my dog." ~ Mark Twain

"I hate when people confuse education with intelligence. You can have a bachelor's or master's degree and still be an idiot." ~ Unknown

“Beware of an old man…In a profession where men die young.” ~ Don Calogero

'Between two evils, I always choose the one I've never tried before." ~ Mae West

GOING NUTS

A guy walks into a bar after a long day at work and takes a seat at the far end of the bar where nobody will bother him.

He gets a beer but then hears a voice say, "You look very nice today!"

He looks around but doesn't see anyone. So he passes it off as his imagination.

But he soon hears the voice again, and it says, "You know, the color blue looks great on you."

Perplexed, he calls the bartender over and asks him, "Hey buddy, what the hell is in this beer? Every time I go to take a sip I keep hearing voices talking to me, saying nice things to me."

The bartender just smiled and replied, "Oh, don't worry about that. Those are just our peanuts. They're complimentary!"

“In my business, we don’t take notes.” ~ Johnny Roselli