Italians love to frequently merge into a whole, proverbs into their conversations and they have many of them.  Because each region of Italy has it’s own proverbs; I heard a treasure chest of them.  This is because my father came from the region of Campania  and my mother came from the region of Lazio.  It is not always easy to get the full meaning out of these proverbs, when translated from Italian into English.  With some of them, it is almost impossible to understand them in English.  This is because there is a certain idiom that is lost within its interpretation.  This along with the fact that many of the Italian words have unique multiple meanings, to engage not the brain, but the mind, the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons.  On top of that, there is a particular play on words that can make some of the proverbs humorous.  Especially when used in a satirical remark.  This humor can’t be conveyed when translated into English and as a matter of fact, they can have the opposite effect. If you have a sense of humor for sarcasm, these are a riot; especially if you’re an Italian-American that can understand Italian.  In spite of all of this, nearly all of the proverbs that Americans use are Italian, with a few Irish, Chinese and one American Indian. Here are a few of my mother’s sayings:  When people think badly of you: Chi pensa male fa male.   He who thinks evil of others does evil. To be alert and pay attention: Chi dorme non piglia pesci.  He who sleeps catches no fish.  When someone gets caught in a lie: La bugia ha le gambe corte. A lie has short legs. Meaning it won’t get you very far. When a person is hated: Chi schifo e schifad He who hates is hated. When someone fears traveling in the faster mode, as in an airplane: Chi va piano va sano a va lontano. Who goes slowly goes in good health and travels far.    When telling a story about a person seeking to make a fool out of someone: Chi va per ingannare resta ingannato. Whoever intends to deceive winds up deceived.  Grandma Maria Alfonsa Carrozza always would say this one, when foolish people can’t perceive, that it takes money to obtain or accomplish specific things:  Senza il denaro nessune masse sono cantato. Without money no masses are sung.  She also would say this one often when it was discovered that a person is not only ugly, but is also mean: Brutto di faccio e brutto di cuore.   Ugly face and ugly heart.

Updated: November 27, 2011 Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. - The Constitution of the United States of America    Memoirs of an Italian-American in Connecticut By Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza Cosmo's Bio        ( WITH SOUND) E-mail This Page TABLE OF CONTENTS MUSICAL "THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW" THE COMPLETE LIBRETTO           (With Sound)        1. Overture from        "The Other Side                  of the               Rainbow"      Recorded Live with  "The Red Garter Saloon         And Dance Hall              Orchestra" MUSICAL "PINOCCHIO" THE COMPLETE LIBRITTO         (With Sound)       1. Overture from          "Pinocchio" MUSICAL "LITTLE ITALY" THE COMPLETE LIBRETTO          (With Sound)        1. Overture from           "Little Italy" THE CARROZZA FAMILY'S POSTED RESUMES PARANORMAL HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED? COMPUTER CHARLATANS TEST1234.DOC WILL THE REAL AUTHOR STEP FORWARD, PLEASE! WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT? GOD'S VOICE-MAIL FIT FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S "BUNKO SQUAD" MY FATHER'S "SALSA DI CAMPAGNA" THE LITTLE MAGIC VACUUM CLEANER GRANDMA CARROZZA’S MORZZETE ITALIAN COOKIES I REMEMBER NEW HAVEN’S LITTLE ITALY JUDGE NOT, LEAST YE BE JUDGED FORTITUDE OR A BAD ATTITUDE? DEAR FRIENDS WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE PERSONAL RAISE? THE TONGUE HAS NO BONE BUT IT BREAKS BONE IS INVULNERABILITY IN AMERICA A PRANK? COSMO'S ITALIAN-AMERICAN NOTEBOOK ANIMOSITY AND STUPIDITY ARE ONE AND THE SAME ANIMAL WHERE DID CREATION COME FROM? CHRISTMAS LOOKING OUT UPON THE MAGNIFICENT EDUCATED AND ENLIGHTENED? WHO AM I? I CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING! STEALTH MODE? IS WINDOWS VISTA OVER RATED? THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK HOLY NAME OF JESUS CHURCH, STRATFORD, CT IN A NUT SHELL BEWARE OF FLYING OBJECTS PROFESSOR RAYMOND CRISARA PORTALS All The Web Google Ask Jeeves DogPile Hotbot NorthernLight Snap Search AOL Yahoo! Google Lycos Excite Deja AltaVista Translate About NETWORKS C-SPAN CNN BBC ZDNN ABC CBS PBS PACIFICA MSNBC News Blues MAGAZINES Slate GeoEducation Consortium News The Smoking Gun Wired Salon The Konformist BartCop CounterPunch Slashdot MediaNews Inside ObscureStore Suck MichaelMoore.com The Onion EightBall Feed The Register Newsweek Time NEWSPAPERS Wall Street Journal New York Times San Jose Mercury News New York Post Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun Times Boston Globe Washington Post Christian Science Mon WIRE SERVICES AP UPI Yahoo/Reuters Bloomberg PR Newswire NandoTimes NewsBlip eNewsWire WORLD PAPERS The Times of London The Independent (UK) The Daily Telegraph London Daily Mirror Irish Times Mid East Times Montreal Gazette Moscow Times Sydney Morning Herald Kenya Daily Nation Jerusalem Post Palestine Times China Morning Post Int'l Herald Tribune Japan's Daily Yomiuri Santiago Times REFERENCES Ramsey Clark's IAC Cryptome.org World Newstand Fed American Scientists Everything APB News CIA Factbook How Stuff Works Space Skeleton Closet Encyclopedia Dictionary POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP Stahler Spear Luckovoch Ariail Bok Gorrell Block Rogers Deering Oliphant Smith Tomorrow Borgman Berry Schorr Payne Bensen Litton Stein Carlson Thompson Breen Horsey Holbert Locher _______________ Dear Readers, I don’t trust any news media, such as the ones above, especially those that include immorality, such as profane language and other forms of self telltale corrupt behavior. The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one. --Italian Proverb Let the buyer beware. In other words, make up your own mind. Best,       -Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza _______________

IT’S THE UNION THAT FEEDS YOU! By: Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza for Memoirs of an Italian-American in Connecticut Revised: Saturday, August 30, 2003 My grandmother from Atrani, Italy, Maria Alfonsa Carrozza, that we called "Nonni", (An endearing Italian term for grandmother) God rest her soul, always used to say in her native language, "It’s the union that feeds you!" Well, I can tell you that she was absolutely right. I have learned from my own personal experience that she was correct. Now she never got the face to face with job adventures that I had, yet she had the God given wisdom to understand, that there is nothing like the union to fight for you and your family. FULL STORY ________________________________________ WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA, A MIRACLE? _______________________________________ WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR TAXES IN CONNECTICUT? _______________________________________ HD RIP OFF _______________________________________ RECIPE OF "THE DAY" FOR TRADITIONAL DISH IN MY FATHER'S TOWN OF ATRANI, ITALY FOR FEAST OF ST. MARY MAGDALENA – July 22nd   STUFFED GREEN SQUASH  Plus other specialties. Revised: Monday, February 16, 2009 ______________________________________                THE PEACE SONG ne summer I decided to write a song about my wish for world peace and what I believed each person could do to create it. So one night I sat down to write what I called, "The Peace Song".    "The Peace Song" was first introduced to a folk group of teenagers and choir members selected from Saint Bernadette’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut that performed it at church services. Their purpose was to create understanding and friendship through music, education, discussion groups and living and working together in a church community.    I feel that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – It is peace that we want, it is peace that we need," will help to create a climate for world peace and understanding. I wish to share this song on the World Wide Web, gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all mankind."                             - Cosmo Sylvester Carrozza                  TO THE PEACE SONG               (WITH SOUND) Recorded at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. MEZZO-SOPRANO  Stephanie Shaw ORGANIST               Donald Funk _____________________________________________           Amico di tutti e di nessuno e tutt'uno" A friend to all and a friend to none is one and the same - Italian Proverb _______________________________________