Good evening, thank you for the invitation. The theater is beautiful, the backstage is truly something fascinating. So, I come from a small town near Perugia, but I came here specifically to bring a testimony of hope to my esteemed young people. That is the objective for which I came. So you young people, listen to me if you can for 4-5 minutes, if I convince you.
So, my father and my grandfather went to war, but they never transmitted fear to me. My generation and our children — I am now a grandfather — instead transmitted to you the obligation to be afraid, and you, starting tomorrow, replace fear with hope.
Then we told you another rather important thing: if you don't study, you'll go to work. We gave people the excuse of not having studied to dismiss work. We didn't give dignity to work. In the end, in the world it is said that 60% of human beings who have been lucky enough to have studied, also studied a bit less than they should have. So I say — I did three years of engineering, only one exam, it's true they were special years — if you can, study a little less than you should, because there is an intelligence of study and an intelligence of the soul, and you must push on the intelligence of the soul. This is what Saint Francis recommends to us, right? Saint Francis at the end, just before he dies — Tommaso da Celano writes his biography — slow to anger, very quick to forgive, not very tall, and at the end he says: among saints, the holiest among sinners, one of them.
Now, my dear young friends, we have gone through a twenty-year period where we convinced ourselves that we could steward and manage humanity with science alone. It is not possible — it takes science and the soul. I am convinced of this. So now we must find the moment of rebalancing, starting from that important idea of Saint Benedict. Do you know when he says: each day, tend to the mind with study, the soul with prayer, and work? We need to rebalance ourselves.
Look, we are living a slightly difficult life. So we can rebalance ourselves by raising our eyes to the sky. We no longer look at the sky, the stars. I come from a family of farmers, and until I was 15 we didn't have electricity. And without electricity at home, how do you live? By following the sun, and when the first star appears — the beautiful star, as we farmers called it — and then we were intoxicated by the stars in the sky. We need this. We need you young people, who are the new champions, the new guardians, the new stewards of creation, to have the courage to return to investing in the great ideals.
Beautiful politics, beautiful family, spirituality, religion — these are the great ideals. And if you have the courage to also look at poverty with new eyes, if you have the courage to be kind, nice, well-mannered, courteous, you will be better. When Emperor Hadrian said: 'I have never known anyone who, after a compliment, didn't feel better.' But you — you don't need someone to give you compliments, you don't need to dialogue, to discuss. Creativity comes from debate, the polemos of the Greeks, the great teacher of humanity.
So it is a delicate moment. Are you afraid of artificial intelligence? No, you shouldn't be afraid. I want to consider it as a kind of city to live in. Look, there is something rather important that Hannibal says to his men around 250 BC — Rome wants to destroy Carthage. Well, Hannibal was a genius, in my opinion not far from Alexander the Great. He gathers his soldiers and says: 'We will find a way, and if there isn't one, we will make one.' So let's face intelligence with this attitude. Hannibal came, and his first great defeat was at Lake Trasimeno, near my home. So what I would like to transmit is the joy of life. What I would like to transmit is returning home from work being joyful, nice, well-mannered. Be a little less connected. This whole idea that we need to receive 500, 1000 emails — but who sends them? Who has to send us 1000 emails all day? No, we should be connected on Saturday, on Sunday. But why?
In our company, I'll tell you the truth: we start at 8:00, at 1:00 there is the lunch break because for us in central Italy it is important, then we work from 2:30 until 5:30, and then emails cannot be sent because emails are sent only during work hours. If there is something extraordinary, you make a phone call. Isn't this also human sustainability — not sending emails? It's not technological sustainability. Sustainability is not only a climate issue, but it is human, it is spiritual. If you work in a beautiful environment, if you are treated well, my spirit feels better, I am more creative. This is what Ruskin says, right? He says: when are you creative? When everything around you is in balance with creation. When we lived in the countryside, we lived in harmony with creation. And look, 800 years ago Saint Francis writes the Canticle of the Sun. I believe he wrote the first social contract with creation, because the social contract starts from Plato, goes through Aristotle, arrives at Hobbes, at Rousseau, but they spoke of a social contract. This time, I believe the new social contract must absolutely be with creation — with water, with the sea, with the animals. We need a great rebalancing.
And you young people, if you return to the great ideals, if you are good people, if you look at poverty with special eyes, if you are kind, nice, courageous, loyal, frank, if you believe in our great nation — Augustus 2000 years ago, as emperor, set three rules of life in Roman law: live honestly, harm no one, give each their due. So what I wanted to convey is that I believe we are facing a golden century — look, Erasmus says it around 1520-1530: 'O my God, let me live, because the golden century is coming.' So a golden century is arriving for you. Return to believing in those beautiful, joyful ideals. Be playful, rediscover the value and love of joking. Because if your soul is the source of great thoughts, we have had a great result.
If a beautiful project — let me check the time — if a beautiful project starts from the mind and passes through the soul, it will be a beautiful project. We need to mix Apollo with Dionysus — the mind, reason, with madness. We need this. So I would like you young people, starting tomorrow, to get intoxicated looking at the sky, while also walking with your feet on the ground, but constantly looking at the stars. When we ask creation for help, why don't we raise our eyes to the sky? Yes, return to doing this. Have no fear of anything. Be open to the world regardless of religion or where you come from. But there must be moral dignity in everything.
And then, since I have 50 seconds left, look: let us worry about being and making sure we restore moral and economic dignity to work, especially blue-collar work. It is blue-collar work that must rediscover its dignity. We have stripped blue-collar work of moral dignity first, and then economic dignity. And if you're at a nightclub, you feel a bit ashamed to say you're a factory worker. So, study just enough, and even a little less. Be madly in love — yes, because it's better to study a little less but be madly in love. Write a love letter, a little love message, because that will change your life. Having studied something extra makes the same difference. So my time has gone over. I thank you. I came from Perugia to tell you young people: have faith in humanity, be good people, respect others, and may the sky and the stars protect you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Actors do this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And you are a beautiful city. You are a beautiful city. You are a city of good people. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.
