I had initially prepared a power point presentation
one of those I usually use when I travel around the world
but then I threw everything, because I think that today …
we need to listen more than to see.
If we listened more than we actually do
we could probably better grasp the weight of words.
I had also decided to focus on the typical things …
the ones that would have been easy as a linguist …
issues of which I could have talked about specialized aspects.
Then I decided to focus on some aspects of my personal experience
because I believe we all bear the weight of who we are.
So I would like to tell you about these episodes
and then I will try to develop some ideas of what courage is today.
Once I decided I should publish an article …
it was an article for a scientific magazine I direct
it had been written by a student and extracted by her graduation thesis.
She had gone far and wide to get it published
but nobody wanted to do it even if many had appreciated it.
I decided to publish it …
It accounted for the howlers of some academic colleagues
who make mistakes as anyone does.
We all make mistakes and we should treasure them
but we shouldn’t keep quiet when we don’t want others to know.
This is already an act of courage.
Another time, when I was headmaster, I received a package …
containing an extract of a manual which was used in my university.
When I started to read I couldn’t believe what I was reading
because that book, used in my university
and written by a professor of my university
contained unacceptable prejudices and offenses.
I tried to understand if that was a good moment to take the right decision
and I did it, I could have lost, but I made it.
Many times we have read that courage is where fear is.
That it is fear that activates courage.
Instead, I have experienced something different …
for me it was an act which requested courage
that put me on probation and made me feel so afraid …
that it helped me to grow, professionally and emotionally.
The article I was talking about was published
and the professor was nailed with his responsibilities
and I had a profit, I gained civil integrity.
Each time I was afraid I wouldn’t make it
and each time I realized that fear could make my opinions stronger
“You cannot free yourself from something by avoiding it but only by getting through it”,
this was written by Cesare Pavese
in his “The business of living”, maybe the most difficult business of all.
It’s about cowardice …
We can all ponder the intersection of significance
between words and their opposite.
I would like to focus on this
and help myself and you all to reflect.
Cowardice is not only being overpowered without reacting
and courage is not only fighting without giving in.
Cowardice can simply mean to get on a pedestal
and have no intention to get off it.
Courage may be just not wanting to get on that pedestal.
Cowardice means compromise if we give credit to words
even if it’s only once…
Courage is to never cede to pressure or extortion.
Let’s give credit to words, think of the importance of negotiation …
Today it’s important to negotiate ideas, values or knowledge
because we live in the era of negotiation, it’s an important form of dialogue
and if we reject negotiation we renounce to ourselves
even before dialogue is started …
So we have this kind of negotiation on one side,
and commercial negotiation on the other
and if this dishonors us once, it does it forever.
So cowardice is probably, as it was told in an ancient story,
to behave like a dwarf at the feet of a giant.
We must get back on the giant’s shoulders.
Some say that courage can move mountains
but if sometimes we tried to climb mountains instead
we would understand that it’s even more difficult.
Also pseudo organic intellectuals are cowards, and there are many …
while troublesome intellectuals are brave.
I come from Milan, where we just talked about Steve Jobs
and I recall his slogan “Think different”
which is not only a slogan or a motto.
To observe the world with different eyes is a reaction to uniformity.
Different thinking is exactly a reaction to uniformity
in front of which we would prefer to close our eyes each time.
If cowardice is accompanied by humility, courage can be accompanied by remorse …
but regret cannot be remedied while remorse can.
There are people who cannot see, and others who pretend not to see.
There’s who can see but doesn’t look, and who looks but doesn’t see.
When someone will start noting all our flaws and mistakes
then we will be sure we have chosen the right way.
Those who ignore our flaws and our mistakes
and forget about our contradictions will probably understand
that if we made it …
it was because we were able to break the mould
and we did this to make the road easier.
Only then we will be able to oppose morals to the fair of complicity …
There’s a beautiful sentence by Hermann Hesse:
“There are people who live in dreams, but not in their own”.
Those who live in other people’s dreams, live an easier life …
because it’s a life of reflection.
Those who live in first person must expect nightmares to come with dreams
bitter defeat to come with success, many lows to come with few highs.
It’s the law of the heart …
Don’t forget that the word ‘courage’ is related to the word ‘heart’.
These two words have the same etymological root
because courage is a Latin word which originated from the Latin for heart.
So don’t forget that courage makes us deal with our hearts more than with our minds.
It’s the law of the heart, and there’s nothing to do against it
but once we have demonstrated that we are giving all we have
and we are not saving ourselves in front of the rest of the world
we will not need prizes or official rewards …
because the world will pay back what we have given.
“Love that exempts no one loved from loving in return”.
Our great father Dante taught us these words.
If we have loved the world so much it will have to love us in return
and those who have ignored us in a snobbish manner and criticized us
will probably leave the life they have borrowed
and will give it back forever.
Thank you.