From the Times obituary of Silvio Berlusconi

When David Cameron arrived at one of his first EU summits after becoming British prime minister in 2010, his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi sidled up to him and offered the following advice: “Take a mistress in Brussels. It’s the only way to get through these damn things.”

 

By his own account he made more than 2,500 court appearances over a 20-year period at a legal cost of €200 million.

 

"I will take questions from the guys, but from the girls I want telephone numbers."