Without my mother’s ambition, her drive, I doubt that on my own I would have pushed myself out of Pozzuoli and into the frightening world that was faraway Rome.
After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It’s better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
I was so skinny, they gave me the nickname stechetto – the stick. I was tall, thin, ugly and dark like an Arab girl. I looked strange. All eyes. No flesh on my bones.
I don’t like to go in places where women talk and gossip. The atmosphere I don’t like, even though you can sometimes meet nice people. For me, it’s a waste of time.
Learn to use your brains as deftly as your powder box, and then, perhaps, powder box you will not need. Know smart women men say beautiful – eyes snatched from the crowd and do not forget just charming.
You must all, somewhere deep in your hearts, believe that you have a special beauty that is like no other and that is so valuable that you must not abandon it. Indeed, you must learn to cherish it.
