l'orgoglio

L'orgoglio dei piccoli consiste nel parlare sempre di sé, quello dei grandi nel non parlarne mai.

The pride of the small is to talk always of themselves, that of the great is to do so never.

Today's Italian proverb is not a proverb and was not originally Italian - it's an aphorism of Voltaire in translation. But I heard it on RAI International so I guess it counts. It's also apt in our confessional fame-obsessed age.

It's also a great reminder of how to use "ne". Ne replaces di + noun, in this case "di sé". Nel non parlarne mai = nel non parlare mai di sé. Using ne is less repetitive. Ciao for now!