5 Of The Best Quotes By Umberto Eco

Recently the world was devastated over the news of famous Italian author and philosopher Umberto Eco's death on February 19th, best well known for his popular medieval murder mystery 'The Name Of The Rose,' which sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

The Piedmont writer was born in Alessandria on the 5th of January, 1932, and dedicated his life to study. He was one of the most well known Italian thinkers inspiring a worldwide community of intellectuals, also taking a liking to popular culture. Quoted in The Telegraph "Despite taking himself seriously, he was also able to laugh at himself. Writing a novel “became like a video game in which I might take on the personality of a warrior and enter a sort of magical kingdom”. “I always assume,” he said wisely, “that a good book is more intelligent than its author. It can say things that the writer isn’t aware of.” 

Personally for us staffers at ITALY Magazine, we all held this quiet, bookish man (he had a personal library of over 50,000 books) in high regard and we suggest reading two other novels by Umberto, Foucault’s Pendulum and Baudolino. In order to honor his legacy, here are five quotes by Umberto Eco that reflect his ongoing spirit. 

Topic
Books
Italy's Treasures
Literature