<i>Berlusconi's gaffes, quips and pranks</i>

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned as prime minister on Saturday after dominating Italy for 17 years with a mix of political talent and brazen behaviour, has a sense of humour that often landed him in trouble.
Here are some of his memorable quotes:
NOV 2011: Berlusconi comments on the state of Italy's economy. "Life in Italy is life in a prosperous country. We see that on every occasion, consumption has not gone down, the restaurants are full, you have trouble booking seats on aeroplanes, holiday areas are totally booked out on long weekends. I don't think that if you went to live in Italy that Italy is feeling anything that could resemble a serious crisis."
OCT 2011: In remarks to party deputies in parliament, Berlusconi suggests his ruling PDL party should rename itself "Forza Gnocca!", a play on the name of his original Forza Italia! (Go Italy!) party, using a slang term for female genitals.
SEPT 2011: In widely reported wiretapped conversations, Berlusconi brags of fending off a line of young women outside his door and "doing only eight girls, because I couldn't do more."
NOV 2010: "As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay," he tells a meeting at a motorcycle industry show in Milan.
APRIL 2009: During a visit to survivors of an earthquake in the central Abruzzo region, who were staying in emergency tents, Berlusconi says: "They should look at it as a weekend of camping."
NOV 2008: Berlusconi hails Barack Obama as "handsome, young and also suntanned", after he was elected the United States' first black president.
FEB 2006: "I am the Jesus Christ of politics," Italian media quote Berlusconi as telling supporters. "I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."
FEB 2006: "Only Napoleon did more than I have done," he tells a TV talk show. "But I am definitely taller."
JUNE 2005: Berlusconi says he used his charms to persuade Finland's president, Tarja Halonen, to give up her country's claim to host the new European Food Safety Authority. "I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time," he said. Finnish ambassador protests.
SEPT 2004: "Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini sent people on holiday in (internal) exile," Berlusconi tells Britain's Spectator magazine, replying "yes" when asked if he thought the World War Two dictator was "benign".